Lena Ovchynnikova: She Can Beat The Shit Out Of You

She looks like the girl next door, but her kicks and punches could kill even the most masculine guy. What’s even better is that she would now be constantly flying in and out of India to fight it out at the Super Fight League – a mixed martial art fight league launched by businessman Raj Kundra and actor Sanjay Dutt. At a time when girls are still expected to play safe, it comes as a shock to watch a girl beating the living daylights out of someone and also getting seriously injured in the process. “ For me, it’s an opportunity to show my skill. It’s an honour for every fighter to be a part of SFL, but not everybody can fight. If you’re not amongst the best, you shouldn’t be here. Women in such sports must have breast protection and groin protection for more safety. Men protect only their groin, but woman must also protect their breasts, because one day they’ll be mothers,” says Lena, who normally trains twice a day. “My fitness regime depends on my fighting schedule. Few fights require me to train thrice a day – running and some fitness exercises in the morning, wrestling and physical exercises in the day, and standup training and sparring in the evening,” she tells us. Since the only stage fight we Indians know about is the WWE, we had to ask her for her take on the theatrical fight world. “It’s a show, not a sport, I don’t like it! But if people like it, wrestlers have good fun, and the format works for prime time, so let it be,” adds the tough chica. Fair enough. And then we change topics because how can any conversation between a men’s magazine and a bombshell be complete without getting a hint on the men in her life. Since Lena’s choice of profession doesn’t fall under the ‘safe’ category, we were interested in knowing how men react to her work. “They are often shocked, but also sometimes confuse martial arts with gymnastics or the likes. Not many people like what I do, but outside the ring or cage I’m a normal girl who likes flowers, cinema and ice cream. If some people don’t like what I do, it doesn’t matter because my friends, family and boyfriend support me, since martial arts is my life,” she says clarifying her stance.

She further adds, “I don’t fight in real life because it’s always good to solve problems without confrontation. Often men back off once they sense my skills.” Going by the velocity of the kicks and the pressure of the punches involved in these matches, we are sure her medical bills would be enormous, so how does she take care of it, we ask. “ Every fighter must have medical insurance for fights because SFL is the harshest style of martial art and injuries can’t be avoided. I’ve been lucky in mixed martial arts fights because I win most matches. I just had one serious injury when I fractured my hand. During my training days, I was hurt more often,” she informs us before sharing her future plans. “I’ll fight until injuries don’t become a hindrance. Once I stop fighting, I’ll take up coaching, but I’ll stay in this sport,” she concludes. We’ll keep an eye out for her!

Read FHM India in the digital libraryEvery issue, every shoot, on TCG Media.

SFL calendar: April 7: Chandigarh; May 6: New Delhi; September 8: Bengaluru; October 6: Chennai; November 10: Kolkata; December 15: Mumbai.

Vitals: Lena Ovchynnikova. Age: 24. Height: 5’6”. Weight: 54. The martial art fighter has won over 10 international tournaments.

From the April 2012 issue of FHM India.