India’s Suchika Tariyal secured a historic bronze medal in women’s traditional 60kg mixed martial arts at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, but her semifinal exit came after a closely contested bout and a controversial weight-based tiebreaker.
Tariyal faced Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo in the semifinal. The fight remained extremely close, with both athletes going through regulation and an additional one-minute overtime. The initial decision went in Teo’s favour, prompting the Indian camp to challenge the result.
Following the protest, the bout was reviewed by a new group of judges and was ultimately declared a draw. Under the applicable Asian Mixed Martial Arts rules, another tiebreaker was required to determine who would advance to the final. The fighters’ official morning weigh-in was then used to decide the winner.
Teo was around 700 grams lighter than Tariyal at the morning weigh-in. As the rules give the advantage to the lighter athlete when the other tiebreaking factors cannot separate the fighters, Teo advanced to the final while Tariyal received the bronze medal.
Tariyal was visibly emotional after the decision and said she did not agree with the outcome. She maintained that she had performed strongly during the contest, while the Indian camp questioned the circumstances surrounding the decision. These comments reflect Tariyal’s and her team’s views; the result itself was made under the tournament’s stated rules.
Despite missing out on the final, Tariyal made history by winning India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in mixed martial arts. Her bronze came as MMA made its Asian Games debut at the 2026 edition.
