Blood, sweat but no tears as Bollywood and Mumbai flock to see hard-hitting action movies in real life at the Full Contact Championship. Read the whole story on CNNGo.com.

One ring, two fighters, over ten forms of combat and 400 spectators. One referee, three rounds, three minutes and it’s done. Move over cricket, fight night has come to Mumbai and there will be blood.

Ever since its formal inception in 1993, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has gripped the world as the fiercest of spectator sports.

Bringing it to India's shores is Prashant Kumar, founder and managing director of Full Contact Championship (FCC), who staged his third fight night at Mehboob Studios last month complete with twelve trained fighters and a fully stocked bar.

Getting the Claps

“The response has been extremely positive and the audience rapidly growing,” Kumar says.

It’s not just blood-thirsty teenage guys in the audience. “We have a lot of women who come, and I actually think they enjoy it more than the men. They react more, are more riveted.”

“The audience is always thrilled and loud and cheering,” says Dhiraj, a champion FCC fighter and trainer to movie stars such as Lara Dutta, Preity Zinta, Tabu and Dino Morea.

“For them, it’s like watching an action movie live, with real punches and kicks.”

But getting to this stage took rather more sweat and blood than was shed in the ring.

“I was sure that people would take to the sport instantly because it’s short, quick and easy to understand. The difficult part was building up a stable of fighters and then getting the finance,” says Kumar.

Read the whole story on CNNGo.com.