ISLAMABAD: Unassuming and petite, on first glance Anita Karim seems like a regular 22-year-old. That’s until she unleashes her powers inside the ring as Pakistan’s first and only woman Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) champion.
She’s in the news again after her phenomenal win at the One Warrior Series in Singapore.
A video of her arrival at the Islamabad airport — where several had gathered to celebrate her win — has been shared more than 1,000 times on Twitter and garnered more than 5,000 likes.
It shows the heavily-garlanded athlete being greeted by women, children and men alike, with some dancing to drum beats and cheering her on.
“It always feels great when your victory is being celebrated by everyone; when you make everyone happy and proud,” Karim said, adding that this “was expected because I knew how the people of Gilgit-Baltistan always appreciate and celebrate women’s’ success.”
It was in 2018 when Karim began training for her first major fight in the One Warrior Series. It was after that grappling and arm-snapping tournament — which eventually earned her the nickname of ‘The Arm Collector’ — that Fight Fortress and Karim prepared to make her mark abroad. Unfortunately, the fight resulted in a loss for Karim who doubled down on her training, heading to Fairtex Training Center Pattaya in Thailand, to gear up for her 2019 Warrior One run in Singapore.
In Singapore, Karim beat Indonesia’s Gita Suharsono, cementing her victory and bringing her fighting record to 1-1.
“[Singapore] was a crucial win for me as I had already lost my professional debut so I had to leave for my training camp,” she said.
“This was my first ever [training] camp outside of the country and that too without anyone from my family with me. But when my hand was raised after the fight [to declare her the winner] it was all worth it.”
Despite it being just days since her return to Pakistan, Karim is already back in the game — citing a busy year ahead with more fights on the horizon — and hopes to head back to Thailand to train soon.
“I have a couple of fights lined up with One Warrior Series and I am hoping to go back to train very soon so I can stay ready for whenever I am called for a fight,” she said.
A native of Pakistan’s Hunza Valley, Karim, who belongs to the region’s dominant Ismaili sect, has become one of Pakistan’s most prominent and respected athletes in a very short span of time.
Growing up in the north, she credits her community and family for her success and achievements.
“People in Hunza have always encouraged girls and women to come forward and take part in all fields of life, be it sports or working in the offices,” she said, adding that “if it wasn’t for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and their support, I think [our team] wouldn’t be doing as good.”
Credited with breaking the glass ceiling for several young girls and women in the country, Karim says her feeling at ease in the ring could be credited to growing up in a family of athletes.
“I was raised in a family where all of my cousins were practicing and competing in Tae Kwon Do, and all of them were black belts. I used to train with my brothers and compete against boys in tournaments,” she said.
Eventually, more and more girls started practicing Tae Kwon Do too. “[Our community] started to encourage them. That encouragement not only led to them winning multiple gold medals but also the tournament’s best team award a couple of times,” she said, adding that a love for the sport helped everyone in her family achieve greater laurels..
Two of her brothers are part of her coaching team, while another brother is also an MMA fighter.
“My family and my brothers have always been my support. My brothers, Ali Sultan and Ehtisham Karim, are my coaches, they are the ones who taught me everything I know. The other coaches...at Fight Fortress always made sure I did my best,” she said, adding that intensive training outside the ring helped her stay focused inside it.
Supported by her family to give MMA her complete focus, she took a break from education in late 2016. Karim, then 20, moved from Hunza to Islamabad to join the reputable Fight Fortress, a training ground for aspiring fighters. It was at Fight Fortress that Karim met and began training with MMA star, Uloomi Karim.
“When I heard about my brother Uloomi fighting and saw his videos, I wanted to be like him. When I finally met him and saw him train, my thoughts turned into inspiration and I told myself that I will become like him,” she said.
It was Uloomi Karim who dubbed her ‘The Arm Collector,’ following a memorable bout in the ring. “He] gave me the name after my first ever grappling competition, I won all my matches by arm locks and in this was the same competition where I broke a girls’ arm, which was an unfortunate event but it’s a part of the game.”
As Pakistan’s lone woman MMA fighter, Karim says the responsibility “puts me in a place from where I can raise my voice for all women and girls in the country who want to do something in life but don’t have any support.”
She hopes others will follow suit. “Bringing girls/women forward in this sport...I am very happy to be the playing my role in it,” she said.
The place she had earned in the sport is one which she and her team value and hope to utilize to it’s fullest potential.
“We wanted to set an example for everyone and encourage the idea of men supporting women and we believe this is the true definition of women empowerment,” she said.
Pakistan’s first woman MMA fighter breaks arms and barriers
Pakistan’s first woman MMA fighter breaks arms and barriers
- Anita Karim returns after clinching the title at the One Warrior Series in Singapore
- Credits her family and community for her eventful journey thus far
US freezes visa processing for 75 countries, media reports Pakistan included
- State Department announces indefinite pause on immigrant visas starting Jan 21
- Move underscores Trump’s hard-line immigration push despite close Pakistan-US ties
ISLAMABAD: The United States will pause immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries starting Jan. 21, the State Department said on Wednesday, with Fox News and other media outlets reporting that Pakistan is among the countries affected by the indefinite suspension.
The move comes as the Trump administration presses ahead with a broad immigration crackdown, with Pakistan included among the affected countries despite strong ongoing diplomatic engagement between Islamabad and Washington on economic cooperation, regional diplomacy and security matters.
Fox News, citing an internal State Department memo, said US embassies had been instructed to refuse immigrant visas under existing law while Washington reassesses screening and vetting procedures. The report said the pause would apply indefinitely and covers countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.
“The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the Department of State said in a post on X.
According to Fox News and Pakistan news outlets like Dawn, the list of affected countries includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, Brazil and Thailand, among others.
“The suspension could delay travel, study, and work plans for thousands of Pakistanis who annually seek US visas. Pakistani consulates in the US are expected to provide guidance to affected applicants in the coming days,” Dawn reported.
A State Department spokesman declined comment when Arab News reached out via email to confirm if Pakistan was on the list.
The Department has not publicly released the full list of countries or clarified which visa categories would be affected, nor has it provided a timeline for when processing could resume.
Trump has made immigration enforcement a central pillar of his agenda since returning to office last year, reviving and expanding the use of the “public charge” provision of US immigration law to restrict entry by migrants deemed likely to rely on public benefits.
During his previous term as president, Trump imposed sweeping travel restrictions on several Muslim-majority countries, a policy widely referred to as a “Muslim ban,” which was challenged in US courts before a revised version was upheld by the Supreme Court. That policy was later rescinded under the President Joe Biden administration.
The latest visa freeze marks a renewed hardening of US immigration policy, raising uncertainty for migrants from affected countries as Washington reassesses its screening and vetting procedures.
The freeze on visas comes amid an intensifying crackdown on immigration enforcement by the Trump administration. In Minneapolis last week, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, a US citizen, during a federal operation, an incident that has drawn nationwide protests and scrutiny of ICE tactics. Family members and local officials have challenged the federal account of the shooting, even as Department of Homeland Security officials defended the agent’s actions. The case has prompted resignations by federal prosecutors and heightened debate over the conduct of immigration enforcement under the current administration.
