India’s Suchika Tariyal confirmed a medal at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Sunday as she progressed to the women’s traditional -60kg semifinals in mixed martial arts.
MMA is one of the six disciplines making their debut at the Asian Games along with freestyle BMX, teqball, padel, surfing, and virtual taekwondo.
READ | Suchika Tariyal won a world title, fought at the Commonwealth Games and went on Roadies.
She represented India in Kurash at the delayed 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
It’s been a commendable journey for the 36-year-old who has now made history at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by becoming India’s first medal in MMA at the continental showpiece.
India’s Suchika Tariyal confirmed a medal at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Sunday as she progressed to the women’s traditional -60kg semifinals in mixed martial arts.
Suchika assured herself of at least a bronze medal after beating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
MMA is one of the six disciplines making their debut at the Asian Games along with freestyle BMX, teqball, padel, surfing, and virtual taekwondo.
READ | Suchika Tariyal won a world title, fought at the Commonwealth Games and went on Roadies. Now comes MMA at Asiad
The 36-year-old Suchika will face Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo on Monday for a place in the final.
Suchika has been a national-level judoka, reached a bronze medal bout at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, represented India in Kurash at the Asian Games, won a world title in fighting Jiu-Jitsu and had a brief run as a professional MMA fighter.
Growing up in New Delhi as the youngest of four daughters, Suchika experienced traumatic harassment at age 10 during a salon visit. The anger from that incident initially triggered hostility and fights at school, prompting her mother to enroll her in judo classes as an outlet.
She proved to be naturally gifted in combat sports, winning her first national judo medal in 2011 and becoming an eight-time national champion. However, her off-the-mat career progress was stalled by workplace harassment at the Uttarakhand Police and systemic politics within federations. Despite these setbacks, she went on to represent India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Refusing to let sports politics stop her, Suchika repeatedly restarted her career across multiple combat disciplines. She represented India in Kurash at the delayed 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. She then transitioned to fighting Jiu-Jitsu, going on to win a World Championship gold medal.
Facing a lack of financial backing and sponsors' reluctance to support athletes over age 30, Suchika self-funded much of her training and competition expenses by appearing on reality shows such as Roadies and India’s Ultimate Warrior.
After competing in professional MMA with BRAVE Combat Federation, she saw an Instagram post for the Asian trials and entered without fully knowing the amateur MMA rules. She self-funded trips to Asian Championship events to meet qualification requirements and secured her spot.
It’s been a commendable journey for the 36-year-old who has now made history at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by becoming India’s first medal in MMA at the continental showpiece.
Published on Sep 20, 2026
