Indian MMA fighter Suchika Tariyal made history at the 2026 Asian Games by winning India’s first-ever medal in mixed martial arts. But her hopes of reaching the gold-medal final ended after a dramatic semifinal was decided by a weight-based tiebreaker.
Suchika faced Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo in the women’s traditional 60kg semifinal. The fiercely contested bout remained undecided after regulation time and overtime. The Indian camp challenged the initial decision, following which the contest was reviewed by additional judges and ultimately declared a draw.
With the bout still tied, the competition’s weight tiebreaker rule came into effect. Under the applicable rules, the lighter athlete can be awarded the victory in a drawn contest. Teo was around 58.5kg, while Suchika was around 59.2kg at the morning weigh-in, according to MMA Sports Federation president Nikhil Kunder.
That difference of roughly 700 grams sent Teo into the final and left Suchika with the bronze medal.
The Indian camp had challenged the original result through arbitration. New judges reviewed the bout and again scored it as a draw. The Singapore team then opted for the weight-based criterion rather than pursuing another arbitration process.
Suchika was visibly disappointed after the decision. She later said she believed she had done enough to win, pointing to her takedowns and overall performance during the bout. Despite her disappointment, she said she was proud to have won a bronze medal for India.
The bronze nevertheless represents a landmark achievement for Indian combat sports. It is India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in MMA, with the discipline making its Asian Games debut at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
The 36-year-old Haryana athlete has competed across several combat disciplines, including judo, kurash and jiu-jitsu. She also won a world title in fighting jiu-jitsu in 2024.
While the semifinal ended in disappointment, Suchika’s bronze has given India a historic first in Asian Games MMA.
