From Jiu-Jitsu Champion to becoming a Mixed Martial Arts Youth World Champion in Abu Dhabi, Nuha Shah is breaking all the boundaries.
The 14-year-old from Grassy Park in Cape Town, started competing in Jiu-Jitsu in 2016 and fast became a South African & All Africa Jiu-Jitsu champion in her division.
In 2018, she switched to MMA but only recently started competitively participating in the sport.
The grade 8 pupil is officially ranked both No.1 in the world, in her division in MMA as well as Jiu-Jitsu.
In the midst of all the glory, Shah has encountered some obstacles along the way, as she does not have any official sponsors. Her family and friends have had to come together on a number of occasions to cover her traveling costs to ensure that she participates in her sport.
Speaking with Oarabile Diphoko, Shah chats about her World Championship glory and some of the challenges she has faced.
Nuha, thank you for chatting to us here at gsport. How did you get into Mixed Martial Arts and Jiu-Jitsu fighting?
I got into Ju-Jitsu through my daddy in 2016 and in 2017 at one of my Jiu-Jitsu competitions, I saw kids doing MMA and I really wanted to try it out and then from 2018 I started to really get into it.
Did you play any other sports prior to MMA?
I played a bit of hockey at school but it didn’t interest me as much as MMA did.
How do you balance going to school and competing as a professional athlete?
I’m not a professional yet, but someday I’ll like to become a professional athlete…hopefully by the age of 17 or 18. I do try my best to make time for both but when it comes to exams and school work, then I have to put my sport on hold.
What are some of your proudest achievements in your career so far?
My proudest achievement is that I never lost one major competition yet…but my most proud achievement so far, is when I became an IMMAF Youth World Champion 2022, in the month of August, woman’s month. With that victory, I became the first South African athlete to receive a gold medal in the Youth World Championships.
What are some of the challenges that you continue to experience?
One of the challenges that I continue to experience is in every competition is that I’m always fighting girls or boys way heavier than me but I still manage to win. The other challenge is that there’s not always money for me to compete in the competitions, but for me I’d like to compete in every competition to keep my winning streak going.
Tell us a little more about your coach and where you met him?
I met Coach Eddie Lallo through my daddy when he took me for my first jujitsu lesson. Coach Eddie is a great Coach and I’ll never forget what he has done for me. I’m no longer fighting under Coach Eddie anymore, we decided to move to another gym to broaden my Training disciplines .I’m am now currently at Pride Fighting Academy with coach Mike, Jess, Jailson and Richard.
Why do you think so many athletes struggle to get sponsorship deals and what more do you think can still be done to help in that regard?
Some sports are not recognised in South Africa and the government is too afraid to take a chance on the athlete in case things don’t work out. MMA is still a growing sport in SA.
What advice can you give other young girls who would like to get into this industry/sport?
The advice I would give other young girls that would like to get into this sport is to just try it out and see if you like it because this sport isn’t just for everyone.
What are your future plans?
I’d like to become a professional MMA fighter in the future, but I would also like to study something else, I’m not really sure what yet.
Photo 1 Caption: Grassy Park teenager Nuha Shah is the first IMMAF Gold medalist to come out of South Africa after capturing the title in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Supplied
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