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“In two to three years MMA will be the sport to look for in India”: Mohamedali Budhwani
Mumbai: Leveraging the growing popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA) and in an attempt to allow untold stories to reach out to Indian viewers, MX Player’s content arm, MX Studios now brings for its viewers India’s first MMA Reality Series – Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt.
At the launch event of MMA, Indiantelevision.com caught up with Toyam Sports Ltd CMD Mohamedali Budhwani to talk about the show and its concept.
The show is being hosted by MMA enthusiast and Hindi cinema superstar Suniel Shetty. The MX Studios Original, Kumite 1 Warrior Hunt will witness 16 top male and female MMA athletes compete for a title while being trained by renowned MMA coaches – Bharat Khandare and Pawan Maan.
This series is being produced in partnership with Toyam Sports Ltd, Kumite1 Warrior Hunt has roped in SATSport News as the Title Sponsor. The series aims to build a stronger MMA community in India.
Commenting on the launch, MX Player chief operating officer Nikhil Gandhi said, “At MX Studios, we create innovative and engaging branded content to meet the contemporary entertainment needs of our viewers. We have partnered with Toyam Sports to present Kumite1 Warrior Hunt as we wanted MMA fans to find new and unique ways to connect with the sport, reflect the fighter’s competitive spirit and give them an unprecedented view of what it takes to be in this business. After the phenomenal success of Dharavi Bank, we are privileged to have Suniel Shetty as the host of the series. MMA is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world and this series is our foray into sports-based content.”
The six-episode series will give viewers a first-hand insight into the hardships faced by these athletes in their MMA journey with stories of survival, passion and courage, thus making the series extremely relatable. This series further showcases the hardships and emotions that MMA fighters deal with while balancing their personal lives and their desire to participate in MMA tournaments.
The show premieres on 12 February 2023.
Edited excerpts:
On the concept of mixed martial arts (MMA). How did this come about? How was the strategy and concept worked on?
MMA is a new concept in India, it has been around but we didn’t have a platform. I started the Kumite one league and I organised a match in 2018 with Mike Tyson as the brand Ambassador, India versus UAE. The problem here was that I could not find any sponsors but I did the event. I at that time came to know that in India there are almost a crore MMA fighters and they don’t get a platform because the only sport India then promoted was cricket.
Though MMA has been around there have been no takers for this sport as most platforms feel that it is a blood sport. So as I started my struggle in 2018, I thought, MMA has a very good scope as most fighters come from poor families or small towns. Our Crore fighter and UFC1 UFC, all want to come to India to promote MMA. in 2018, I started this and I spoke to a lot of channels. Finally, MX agreed and we also got a very good sponsor. Then we roped in Suneil Shetty to host the show. It has been a good hard journey. But nowadays MMA is getting good feedback in India and stars like Tiger Shroff is doing a lot of promotions. In two- or three years MMA will be the sport to look for in India.
On Sunil Shetty as the host for the show
Sunil Shetty was always there in my mind, also he’s a Bollywood actor. He is passionate about sports and especially MMA. He got trained for MMA internationally and when we were shooting he showed some punches and some kicks to the fighters also and they loved it. Our fighters and I have not trained internationally, but Suneil has. This is what shows and this was on my mind that I will take somebody who has a passion for it. He is somebody who is a celebrity and has the right vision and passion, and this will add strength to the show.
On the scripting and casting of the show
See, we did the audition before COVID and we got very good entries. We auditioned all over India and we were supposed to go to all the states and do the casting. But because of covid, we could not go and it was done. The scripting and the idea were worked on by our director Omkar.
On MX Player the right platform for the show
MX Player is the No 1 OTT platform and has a very good reach in India. Another advantage is that we can have free air. Our fighters, as I told you, they don’t have money to buy subscriptions and the show on MX Player free is a big boost to them.
On the interest shown by kids for poor families to excel in this sport
For sure, as I told you I brought Mike Tyson to India. When Mike was here he was invited for lunch or dinner by celebrities but he wanted to go and eat at a poor kids’ house because that was his roots. We have so many people here in India and this show will give a big platform to all those people who deserve it.
We would have Season 2 of the show and the first promo has been liked by all. We are hoping that it would be the number 1 show on MX Player.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
