Nagoya, Sep 22: Maharashtra’s Prachiti Nagpurkar gave up chartered accountancy to pursue her dream of becoming a mixed martial arts match official and has no regrets about leaving the lucrative profession after becoming the first Indian to referee a bout at the Asian Games here.
Prachiti was a match referee in one of the semifinal bouts of the Asian Games at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center here as MMA made debut in the continental multi-sport event. She said she has also officiated in the qualifiers for the Asian Games and in Asian Championships in Uzbekistan and China this year, as well as in the South East Asian Games.
“We are a part of history here. MMA is my sport and seeing my sport come to Asian Games and representing my country as a referee has been a very surreal experience. I always dreamt of representing my country. I’m the first Indian official to be a match referee in MMA. I’m not just the first woman official,” Parachiti told PTI in an exclusive interview.
“Even if you can’t represent your country as an athlete, the journey never ends. You can always represent your country in some other capacity, be a judge, an official and your name still comes along with your country name and trust me that feeling is very special.”
There were two other Indians officiating in the Asian Games MMA competition which concluded on Monday. But they were judges, not referee.
“I’m very proud to say that in a male-dominated sport, it’s a female official who got the first chance to referee at such a big level. I did refereeing in nine out of ten male fights recently.
“I’m very confident and I love it that I’m a petite female in the cage and I can boss around as the queen of the cage. I love that feeling,” said Prachiti who began her journey in 2022.
“I want to say to all females out there, we can go out there and do our best even if it’s a male-dominated sport.”
Asked about leaving charter accountancy to become an MMA referee, she said, “Though I’m a chartered accountant, Mixed Martial Arts is my love, my passion. I have left CA and now I am on officiating MMA matches.
“It never differentiated that I was a female. In India, I also referee male fights and there are big, big men standing. I’m a small female and I’ve found my way about it. I do not feel intimidated anymore. I’m very, very confident with my rules and in the cage.”
Most MMA fights in India take place inside a fenced enclosure known as a cage or octagon.
Asked what are the qualifications to become an MMA official, she said, “First thing is, you have to be training in MMA. I own an MMA gym in Mumbai. I have been doing it since 2019. I have a couple of students, one of them won medal at Asian Youth Games.
“I have a couple of people that I train with. I actually have a team of female fighters who are going to be the next generation.”
She has earned enough qualifications to be able to refereeing in national and international events.
“I started my journey because I’m a chartered accountant and I’m a martial artist. I have a combination of brains and physical strength. And I thought, why not use it. Studying is a part of me. So I did a lot of exams to become a judge and a referee.
“You have to pass the national qualification first. There are levels C, B, A. Once you become A level, then you can go on to the Asian qualification. Then you can go to the world qualification.
“I started with C, then I became a B, then A. After that, I went on to the international level with the Asian Federation. I’ve just started, so I’m a level C with the Asian Federation right now. For this, I had to give a couple of exams, theory exams, practical exams, multiple times.”
She is hoping the profession of officiating in MMA matches will grow after the sport’s inclusion in the Asian Games and Suchika Tariyal winning a bronze medal. (PTI)
