Indian MMA queen Suchika Tariyal wins historic bronze at Asian Games; who is she?

Suchika Tariyal is one name all Indians will remember for a long time. She created history on Monday (Sep 21) at the ongoing Asian Games 2026 after bagging a bronze medal in the women’s traditional MMA – 60kg event in Aichi-Nagoya. She added another chapter to her decorated combat sports career spanning judo, kurash, jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts.

Suchika secured India’s first-ever Asian Games MMA medal of the Games after beating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the quarterfinals, with the two losing semifinalists set to receive a bronze. On Monday, the Indian combat sports athlete faced Singapore’s Teo Hui Hoon in the semifinal and lost 3-0, settling for bronze.

Although failing to reach the gold medal match was heartbreaking, the bronze medal was particularly significant with MMA making its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. Suchika, however, appeared in just her second continental Games, having represented India in kurash at Hangzhou in 2023.

Who is Suchika Tariyal?

Born on August 6, 1990, Suchika was raised in Rohtak, Haryana, and took up judo at 12 after an eve-teasing incident made her want to learn how to defend herself. Early in her career, she began training at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium before moving to the Dada Dev Mandir Centre in Palam. She even trained at SAI Bhopal, which was instrumental in her development as a competitive judoka.

From Judo to MMA

Suchika impressed all with her judo portfolio. Representing India across 20 international judo competitions, she became an eight-time national champion. Her successful stint included gold medals at the 2019 Commonwealth Judo Championships and 2019 South Asian Games and a silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championship.

Suchika also represented India in the women’s 57kg category at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.

Her experience as a judoka, particularly in grappling and ground fighting, eventually laid a foundation for a move into other combat disciplines.

Suchika switched disciplines and moved into jiu-jitsu, where she won a gold medal in the Adults Ju-Jitsu Contact Female -63kg category at the 2024 JJIF Ju-Jitsu World Championships.

Meanwhile, her MMA chapter began in 2017, before she later moved away from the discipline for seven years while continuing to compete in judo and jiu-jitsu.

“Judo set me up for MMA, which for me is the ultimate level of combat sports,” Tariyal told SAI Media. “Because of judo, I was skilful in ground fighting and grappling. I only had to learn the standing game and striking skills for MMA.”

Upon returning to professional MMA in 2024, Suchika signed a multi-fight deal with BRAVE Combat Federation and won on her comeback at BRAVE CF 92 in Bahrain in December that year. Later, she won gold at the first two MMA-SFI National Championships before bagging bronze at the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Championships in January and May 2026.

Her relentless multi-sport journey culminated at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, where she achieved her biggest career milestone yet.

“This medal means a lot to me as me and my coaches have worked very hard to reach here,” Tariyal said after securing the bronze. “My family has spent a lot of money on me and provided me with every possible support to help me become a good MMA player. So, this medal means more than my life.”