Pakistan, Nov. 5 -- Russia arrived at the IMMAF World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, with more than 60 athletes, government backing and one of the best-funded programmes in the sport. On Tuesday, a 24-year-old from Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan, beat one of them.

Maliha Ali defeated Veronika Drozdova, a two-time European champion and, at 19, by split decision in their featherweight (65.8kg) bout at the world championships of amateur mixed martial arts. Maliha, who is also a wushu champion and a national kickboxing gold medallist, came into the tournament off a silver medal at the IMMAF World Cup in Angola earlier this year. The fight was won early and nearly lost late.

Fighting from a southpaw stance, Maliha started cautiously before clos...