By:  | November 21, 2022 1:30 pm

Matrix Fight Night 10 took place in Dubai but that didn’t stop some Indian celebrities from attending. Promoter Tiger Shroff was cageside as always and he wasn’t the only Bollywood star in attendance.

Award winning Indian actress Disha Patani was also at the at the Palazzo Versace to see no fewer than four new Matrix Fight Night champions crowned:

Pulling the strings

Matrix Fight Night is owned and operated by one of Bollywood’s most famous families. Ayesha Shroff appears to be the one pulling the strings while her children Kishu Shroff and Tiger Shroff are listed as being promoters.

The most famous of the lot is their father, Jackie Shroff, who is one of the biggest names in the Bollywood industry. The family has helped to popularize MMA in India in the wake of the Super Fight League debacle:

Riot starter
The Super Fight League also attempted to give MMA a bit of Bollywood glamour and at one stage shows were happening nearly every week. But after years of rampant overspending the promotion imploded leaving Indian mixed martial artists without a platform to compete on.

Matrix Fight Night appears to have picked up the pieces. So far the promotion has put on ten events as well as opening a chain of branded gyms and appears to have survived the pandemic unscathed.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing though. A riot erupted after Matrix Fight Night 9 and afterwards Ayesha Shroff announced she was banning all Afghan fighters from competing on her cards.

Awkward conversations 

An Afghan mob attacked an Indian fighter during that event and the main culprit appears to have been Abdul Azim Badakhshi. He was one of the promotion’s biggest stars and also happened to be Kishu Shroff’s boyfriend!

It must have made for some awkward conversations in the Shroff household. But Matrix Fight Night is still going strong even if Afghan fighters are no longer welcome to compete on the cards.

Kishu Shroff and Ayesha Shroff both looked to be in high spirits in Dubai. The only unwelcome sight for the Indian celebrities in attendance would have been that of Uloomi Karin becoming the first Pakistani to win a Matrix Fight Night title.

But the other three Indians facing foreign opposition in title fights were all victorious. So the majority of fight fans in attendance, as well as the Bollywood celebrities, would have gone home happy.