Pakistan's Maliha Ali topples Russia's Drozdova at MMA world championships

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…