Asian Games 2026: Who is Suchika Tariyal? India’s first-ever MMA medallist

Suchika Tariyal, on Sunday, wrote herself into history book, assuring India of its first-ever Mixed Marital Art (MMA) medal on the sport's debut at the 2026 Asian Games.

She beat Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the women’s traditional 60kg quarter-final to book her place in the semi-finals and assure India of at least a bronze medal.

Suchika's journey to MMA

Suchika’s journey to MMA was a long route through different combat sports, eventually bringing her to the sport after she was left without an option to compete elsewhere.

Her journey started in judo at the age of 12 after an incident of eve-teasing made her want to learn self-defence, and that desire eventually led her to become an eight-time National Judo Champion and represent India in more than 20 international competitions.

She also represented India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in judo.

From there, she switched to kurash, partly because the Asian games route appeared more favourable.

Judo had historically been difficult terrain for India at the Asian games, and this eventually led Tariyal to represent India in Kurash at the delayed 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Tariyal then moved to jiu-jitsu, where she won the gold medal at the 2024 JJIF Jiu-Jitsu World Championships.

She had also tried MMA earlier, making her debut in 2017 before taking a seven-year break from the sport.

In 2024, she returned to professional MMA and signed a multi-fight contract with BRAVE Combat Federation.

She returned to MMA for the 2026 Asian games came after another change in her sporting journey.

The jiu-jitsu team for the 2026 Asian games was dropped and the competition structure was changed in January, leaving Tariyal without an option to continue on the path she had been preparing for.

She then entered the MMA trials with the sport set to make Asiad debut. 

According to Hindustan Times, the qualification process to Asian Games brought another challenge, as the eligibility rules were changed midway and athletes were required to have a top-six Asian ranking.

Without immediate government funding for the trip, Tariyal paid her own way to the Asian Championship, where she won a bronze medal.

Life beyond Combat sports 

Tariyal’s career has taken her through four different combat sports, with each stage adding to her experience.

Alongside her sporting career, she was appointed as a Head Constable in the CISF and later joined the Department of Sports, Haryana as a Junior Coach.

Now with a confirmed bronze medal and a place in the semifinals, Suchika will look to take her historic Asian games debut a step further and fight for a gold medal for India.