Eve teased at 12, Asian Games history at 36: Suchika Tariyala’s MMA fairytale
For every athlete, there is a turning point where their journey begins. It was an unforeseen incident for Suchika Tariyal at the age of 12.
Suchik used the harrowing experience as inspiration for judo, and the rest, as they say, is history. She has represented India at many international judo competitions, but today she stands before the world as India’s first MMA medalist at the Asian Games.
ASIAN GAMES 2026 UPDATE 20 SEPTEMBER
WHO IS SUCHIKA TARIYAL?
Suchik’s sporting journey began at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium before she moved to the Dada Dev Mandir center in Palam and later trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) center in Bhopal. Her decision to pursue sports was not always easy, her family initially worried about the challenges of a young girl traveling to competitions.
These obstacles did little to slow her progress. Suchika eventually became an established international judoka, competing for India in more than 20 international events. She won the National Judo Championship eight times and collected several medals on the international stage.
Her biggest achievements in judo included gold medals at the 2019 Commonwealth Judo Championships and the 2019 South Asian Games along with a silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships. She also featured in several Asian Judo Championships before representing India at the tournament Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. She came close to a podium finish in the women’s 57kg category, but returned with valuable experience from one of the sport’s biggest stages.
Her martial arts journey didn’t stop at judo. Suchika later took up Ju-Jitsu and achieved another career milestone in 2024 when he won gold in the Adults Ju-Jitsu Contact Female -63 kg category at the JJIF Ju-Jitsu World Championships. Her successes in both disciplines eventually became the building blocks for her move into MMA.
Interestingly, MMA was not completely new territory for Suchik. She made her debut in the sport in 2017 and started her journey with a win, but then left MMA for seven years and went on to compete and succeed in Judo and Ju-Jitsu.
She returned to professional MMA in late 2024 after signing a multi-fight deal with BRAVE Combat Federation in the women’s strawweight division. Her comeback fight came at BRAVE CF 92 in Bahrain in December 2024, where she marked her return with another victory.
Outside the competition, Suchika also built a career in public service. She was appointed as a CISF head constable before later joining the Haryana Sports Department as a junior coach.
WHEN SUCHIKA IS ALMOST FINISHED WITH SPORTS
A knee injury, systemic barriers and personal struggles forced Suchika to retire from judo. The 36-year-old woman accepted that her journey was over.
“I gave up. I thought, ‘Okay, it’s okay, it’s done, this is enough,'” Tariyal told HT.
But then Pooja Tomar and ONE champion fighter Himanshu Kaushik brought her back into the competition.
Suchika has already competed for India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Judo and the 2023 Asian Games in Kurash, before adding another major success to her resume as World Jiu-Jitsu Champion in 2024. But just when she appeared to be forging a clear path across combat sports, a series of administrative changes began to reshape her options.
The biggest setback came in January when the jiu-jitsu team for the 2026 Asian Games was dropped and the selection structure was changed. For Suchika, this meant that the route she had been working towards suddenly disappeared.
Instead of quitting, she switched disciplines again and signed up for MMA trials.
Even making the qualifying journey to the Asian Games turned out to be difficult. The eligibility criteria was changed midway through the process and athletes now had to break into the top six in the Asian rankings. With no immediate government funds available for the trip, Suchika financed her own trip to the Asian Championship.
The bet paid off. She returned from the championships with two bronze medals for India, strengthening herself during the selection process. The performance eventually helped her overcome administrative hurdles, earn a spot in the Target Asian Games scheme and secure support from the MMA-SFI federation.
SUCHIKA MOMENT OF GREATNESS
Suchika Tariyal on Sunday made Indian MMA history by booking a place in the traditional women’s 60kg semi-final at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The 36-year-old secured at least a bronze medal after a 2-0 quarter-final win over Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa. Her semifinal opponent will be decided by the second quarterfinal between Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo and Iran’s Areza Salimighalehtaki.
With a place in the last four secured, Tariyal is now one win away from reaching the final of the Asian Games and bettering her historic medal haul.
– The end
Published on:
20 Sep 2026 12:11 IST