Last minute escape, accommodation chaos, weight loss attempt: How Varun Sanyal’s Asian Games nightmare unfolded

Varun Sanyal (Special Arrangement) NEW DELHI: It was almost 12 hours after Varun Sanyal finally reached his room in Nagoya after landing in Japan. He flew from London to Mumbai, picked up his Asian Games accreditation card, traveled via Singapore, spent hours proving he was a registered athlete, and then found out he was sharing a room that wasn’t designed for three people.Days later, he was lying outside a sauna hyperventilating after collapsing during a weight-cut attempt that ended his Asian Games campaign before it even began.Still, Sanyal, now back in London, would prefer to remember the Asian Games as the moment mixed martial arts (MMA) forced its way into the Indian sporting conversation.“Instead of focusing on what didn’t happen, focus on what happened,” he told TimesofIndia.com, referring to teammate Suchika Tariyal’s historic bronze medal – India’s first Asian Games medal in MMA.For a sport making its Asian Games debut, that perspective may prove more important than its own heartbreak.

A warrior who was almost not there

Sanyal’s path to the Games was anything but straightforward.The 26-year-old qualified months earlier, but uncertainty over selection meant he shifted his focus back to his professional MMA career. Ranked among the top six in Asia, he was finally included in the Indian squad just two weeks before the Games after another athlete became ineligible as per the Sports Ministry’s selection criteria.

Ranked among Asia’s top six, Varun Sanyal was finally drafted into the Indian squad just two weeks before the Games. (Special arrangements)

These two weeks became a race against time.He was recovering from a staph infection, reorganizing an international training camp in England, arranging travel documents and trying to shed almost five kilograms to make the lightweight limit – all while preparing for the biggest tournament of his career.On paper, Sanyal arrived in Nagoya as one of India’s brightest MMA prospects. The Delhi fighter has already built an impressive resume across the amateur, semi-pro and professional circuits, compiling 17 fights in just four years and establishing himself as one of the most active competitors in the country. But none of that prepared him for the chaos that awaited outside the cage.

Games before games

The accommodation chaos has become one of the defining stories of Aichi-Nagoya 2026, and Sanyal finds a mention in that story.His name was missing from the registration list upon arrival. Officials at the Expo Hall directed him to the cruise ship that served as the athletes’ village, where another round of explaining began from scratch. Questions followed as to whether he was even registered, despite an accreditation card that allowed him to enter Japan. The issue was eventually resolved only after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) intervened, but not before the entire day disappeared.The logistical mess revealed a deeper problem in Indian MMA.

I just remember finally hitting the 30 minute mark and standing up. And when you’re dehydrated, you start to see black, like you’re starry-eyed. You have a headache. I was completely out of it. I push open the door to the sauna and then there’s this tiny little bench where I start to lie down and hyperventilate. Honestly, the whole thing feels like a fever dream to me.

Varun Sanyal

Unlike many established sports, the MMA contingent traveled without the accreditation of trainers during the cruise. Some coaches paid for their own flights, hotels and transport, while the athletes had to fend for themselves inside the village.This meant that Sanyal was not only preparing for the competition. He became a translator, manager and teammate in one.He helped Suchik navigate anti-doping procedures, sought medical attention on the sprawling cruise ship and even sprinted between decks looking for an iron to prepare India’s competition kits.In another sport, these duties would belong to the support staff. In the latest discipline of the Indian Games, they fell to the athletes themselves.

30 minutes of chaos in the sauna

If the accommodation saga tested Sanyal’s patience, the weight loss attempt tested his body.Competing in the category up to 77 kg is slightly misleading. With athletes weighing around 1.5kg in a gi and belt, competitors actually need to reach around 75.5kg. Sanyal normally walks around with a weight of 80kg and managed to get down to 77.5kg before the latest chop.There were two kilograms left and the clock was ticking.

Varun Sanyal

Inside the sauna, the first few minutes were almost routine. Fighters from Kyrgyzstan, Singapore and Brunei chatted casually as they all worked up a sweat in the final stages of preparation. Then dehydration started to take over.Sanyal remembers timekeeping only through the sauna clock — one checkpoint after another. After about 30 minutes, he stood up, experienced a violent head rush and stumbled to a nearby bench before collapsing.

I had cut weight before and made it to tournaments so it wasn’t a challenge. I think it was the short window of time accompanied by all the stress, travel, etc. Plus just not having anyone there.

Varun Sanyal

“I just remember I finally hit the 30-minute mark and I got up. And when you’re dehydrated, you start seeing black, like you’re starry-eyed. You get this lightheadedness. I was completely out of it. I push the door to the sauna, and then there’s this tiny little bench that I start laying down on, and I feel like I’m hyperventilating the whole dream.”The Nepalese athlete alerted his coach, who then tried to communicate with the Japanese medical staff via a translation app, while Sanyal somewhat irrationally insisted that he didn’t want water because he still needed to gain weight.“My body was really overheated at that point. I felt like I had a fever. I said I had to talk to my trainer. Fortunately, the person nearby was Nepali, so my trainer spoke to him in Hindi. Then they took me to a medical facility. There, my trainer asked them to give me electrolytes. They spoke Japanese and limited English. Meanwhile, I’m not trying to do anything about it because I say I’m not losing weight.”

Varun Sanyal in hospital. (Special arrangements)

He was eventually treated by doctors for dehydration and overheating, and medical advice to immediately rehydrate meant his Asian Games campaign was officially over.Looking back, Sanyal thinks it wasn’t the smartest decision to cut weight. Doing it alone, after traveling frantically and with virtually no time to recover, only increased the risk.“I had cut weight before and made it to tournaments, so it wasn’t a challenge. I think it was the short window of time with all the stress, travel, etc. Plus I just didn’t have anyone there. I think if I had done it more systematically, when I was there in the sauna, maybe.”“I don’t want to speculate because then I start thinking about what it could have been. And then it’s a bit frustrating,” he explained.The medal that changed the story of MMA in India

New Delhi, Sep 24 (ANI): Indian mixed martial arts (MMA) bronze medalist Suchika Tariyal at the 2026 Asian Games interacts with the media as she receives a warm welcome from her family and supporters on her arrival at the New Delhi airport on Thursday. (ANI Photo/Neeraj)

While Sanyal recovered, Suchika Taiyal won the bronze medal to become the first Indian MMA athlete to stand on the Asian Games podium. Sanyal was in her corner throughout the competition – not officially as a coach, but as the closest thing India had to the village.Her medal, which came in controversy, changed the conversation.For years, MMA in India has largely existed outside the mainstream sports ecosystem, thriving in independent promotions while struggling for institutional recognition. The Asian Games offered legitimacy and the medal offered proof that the country could compete with the best in Asia.Sanyal believes that this is Nagoya’s true heritage.The federation itself (MMA-SFI) is barely over a year old, yet India has already produced medals at the Asian Youth Games and now at the Senior Asian Games. For a discipline that is just entering the multi-sport environment, these results are as important as the infrastructure.His own story, oddly enough, also helped.The housing controversy, the viral videos that went with it, the failed attempt to play a continental showpiece brought unprecedented attention to a sport that rarely finds itself on the front pages. It wasn’t the publicity he wanted, but maybe it was the publicity Indian MMA needed.“Despite everything that was going on, we still came away with a medal, which I think is huge. Two things. The medal shows that (we can) produce results. The federation that sent us has only been around for a little over a year or so. And even the Asian Youth Games produced medals. So I’d say the biggest draw is that the federations and the athletes could now show that sponsors and athletes can to have results in MMA society. to get behind MMA fighters,” Sanyal said.“If you’re asking about my personal subscription, I’m glad that there was so much interest. It was at my expense, but the fact is that so much media attention was given to the sport, to the athletes, and I’m grateful for that. So for me, this is the biggest subscription,” he continued.Sanyal left Nagoya without entering the cage. Yet in many ways, he has already won his toughest fight: convincing the country that MMA belongs on its biggest sporting stage.