ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan’s lightweight champion, Shahzaib Rind, is set to take on Israeli fighter Natan Levy to defend his Karate Combat Lightweight World Championship.
Karate Combat confirmed one of the most talked‑about fights of 2026 on its social media platforms, announcing that Rind and Levy will clash for the belt, the date and venue of which will be revealed later.
The poster featuring both the fighter, shared on Karate Combat’s Instagram account, has already sparked intense interest because of both its sporting stakes and its political backdrop.
The 27‑year‑old Shahzaib Rind, on January 25, 2025, at Karate Combat 52 in Miami, defeated former three‑time world champion Edgars Skrivers 7–0 to secure his second stint as lightweight titleholder.
Before that, at Karate Combat 44 in Mexico City, Rind delivered one of the promotion’s quickest and most spectacular finishes, knocking out Peru’s Marco Cubas in just 21 seconds with a flying knee, a high kick, and unanswered ground strikes.
His most recent defense came on July 19, 2025, again in Miami at Karate Combat 56, where he stopped Brazilian fighter Luiz Rocha via TKO at 2:57 of the fourth round.
Raised in Balochistan, he started martial arts at nine and refined much of his game by copying techniques from YouTube.
His global breakthrough came at KC‑49 in Singapore on September 18, 2024, when he beat Brazil’s Bruno Roberto De Assis to become Pakistan’s first-ever world champion in Karate Combat.
