Asian Games 2026: Why did Suchika Tariyal lose MMA bout despite a draw? Explained

Indian martial artist Suchika Tariyal clinched a historic MMA bronze medal for India at the ongoing 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday.

Competing in the women’s 60kg Traditional MMA event, the 36-year-old secured the bronze after a hard-fought semi-final loss to Hui Hoon Teo of Singapore.

The 36-year-old, thus became, the first Indian to win an MMA medal at the continental games as this sport made its debut this year in Japan.

The Protest

However, her semi-final bout turned out to be a heartbreaking one, as she ended up losing a match she never truly lost.

Yes, you heard that right.

In a closely contested fight where both athletes gave everything, even the judges found it difficult to decide a clear winner.

In her bout, after dropping the first round 0-3, Suchika showed aggressive intent in the second round, winning it 2-1 and forcing the bout into a one-minute overtime.

Both fighters remained cautious in the extra period and failed to land many effective punches. Despite this, the judges awarded a 2-0 decision to the Singaporean athlete.

Visibly emotional after the verdict, Suchika broke down in tears, firmly believing she had done enough to win the contest. Her team subsequently decided to lodge an official protest against the decision.

According to the AMMA rulebook (X.2), an athlete or coach can appeal a bout decision by paying an appeal fee of $1,000. The Indian camp did exactly that in Nagoya.

Ten judges reviewed the bout through arbitration, but they too were unable to determine a clear winner, and the contest was eventually declared a draw.

700gms cost a place in the final

Now comes another rule that proved particularly harsh for Suchika, as she was ultimately declared the loser because she was 700 grams heavier than her opponent.

There are nine ways a winner can be decided in an amateur MMA bout, and one of the rarest and final rules among them is a tie after overtime.

What happens in the case of a tie?

• Warnings given to both athletes throughout the bout are considered.
• If both fighters have received the same number of warnings, the advice (cautions) given by the referee is taken into account.
• If the advice is also equal, the pre-competition weights of the two athletes are compared.

In Suchika’s case, the first two criteria could not separate the fighters. The decision was therefore made on the third criterion: The lighter athlete is declared the winner.

Suchika was found to be 700 grams heavier than her Singaporean opponent and was consequently proved to be the victim of this rule

You may wonder how two athletes competing in the 60kg category can have different weights.

In MMA, 60kg is only the upper limit. Any athlete weighing less than or equal to 60kg is eligible to compete in the division.

And what if their weights had also been identical?

The final deciding factor would have been the three assistant referees raising their flags to indicate which fighter they considered the better performer in the bout.