Exclusive: From wanting to beat up boys in her village to India’s pride at UFC - The Puja Tomar story

Don’t be fooled by the dimpled smile. Behind that cheerful facade lies a fighting machine.   

The first Indian born mixed martial arts athlete to compete at the Ultimate Fighting Championship - the world’s largest MMA promotion company, featuring as many as 11 different weight categories – was Bharat “Daring” Khandare who made his UFC debut in 2017. Many others followed in his footsteps over the years, but it wasn’t till June 2024 that an Indian-born athlete finally had a UFC win. That distinction is held by a female MMA star, whose first exposure to martial arts was via Jackie Chan movies in her village in Uttar Pradesh. 

From Budhana to the Octagon: Puja Tomar’s journey

When 31-year-old Puja Tomar pulled off a split-decision win against Brazil’s Rayanne dos Santos in the 52kg division last year in her UFC debut bout, she not only made UFC history, she also etched the country’s name in MMA history books. But perhaps more than anything else, it was the validation that came with that win, that the fighter with a southpaw stance had been waiting for her whole life.     

“It was like a dream come true for me. All the people there, the foreigners and the media there – they were all very excited for me and were talking about how a girl from India is about to perform on such a big stage. It was an amazing moment for me,” Puja told us in an exclusive interview from her training camp in Bali.   

Jackie Chan and YouTube: How MMA found Puja

What is truly amazing is Puja’s life story, which began in the Budhana village in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Growing up, the one thing that Puja realised very quickly was that she would perhaps always be treated very differently, by most people, because of her gender. It’s a realisation that dawns on millions of young women in our country, who still find themselves chained to centuries-old customs dictated by patriarchy. For Puja, what was clear from a very early age was that she had to try and find a way out of that life, which was ruled by regressive dogmas. And it was that burning desire that fuelled her passion for martial arts. 

“From when I was very young, I saw that boys were treated better and given more importance in our village. I always felt bad about this and would ask myself – ‘why am I girl? I should have also been a boy’. But after that when I started watching Jackie Chan movies, I was introduced to martial arts. I became very interested in martial arts, because I wanted to learn the moves and beat up the boys in my village, so that I could prove that I am better than them,” the MMA athlete nicknamed “The cyclone”, further said.   

The journey from being Puja to becoming “The Cyclone” was not something that happened overnight, of course. At this stage of her life all that Puja knew was that she found martial arts to be something new and exciting and something she could see herself pursue. But how? Thankfully, though many old-world customs and traditions haven’t yet changed in our country, two extremely big steps forward have been the incredible reach of the internet and smartphones. Regardless of how small a village or tehsil might be, you will find people in India with both. For Puja, these were a godsend, just like the arrival of a certain teacher in her school.   

“I never had any exposure to wrestling or anything. I would watch youtube videos and learn the technique for kicks and punches from there. Then we had a teacher who came to our school and taught karate to the girls as a form of self-defence. And slowly I realised that the aggression that I had in me of wanting to beat up boys could be channelised into martial arts,” Puja further said in an exclusive interaction with Firstpost. 

Puja now had a plan. She knew that martial arts could potentially help her change her life. She refused to accept that her fate was what was being dictated by the men of her village. But what could the next step possibly be? 

After being exposed to karate in her school, it was but natural for Puja to continue to practice that form of martial arts. But she soon realised that karate was not for her. It was too limiting, too restrictive. Puja was looking for something through which she could express herself. It wasn’t just an outlet for her aggression and pent-up frustration that she was looking for, she needed something that could well and truly comfort and heal her.   

“When I started learning karate in school, there were a few inter-school events that I participated in. I punched someone really hard in one of the events, but instead of being praised, I was disqualified from the event. I was told – ‘you can’t hit someone like this’. I told them – ‘I have won this bout’, but they said – ‘no, such things are not allowed.’ That’s when I asked them if there is any sport where I can kick and punch others hard, because I wasn’t enjoying the restrictions in karate. That’s when a friend suggested that I should maybe pursue the sport of Wushu, where one can punch, kick and topple someone. That’s how my Wushu journey started and I fell so deeply in love with the sport, that I kept thinking about how I could become the best at this sport.”     

Wushu – it literally means ‘martial art’ or ‘martial/military technique’ in Mandarin. Puja had graduated into the next phase of her martial arts journey and this was the golden phase, because she had found her calling. Puja might be just 4 feet and 9 inches tall, but she reached for the stars, grabbing this opportunity with both hands. She went on to become a five-time national Wushu champion. She also represented India at the 2015 World Wushu Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

But life had changed for Puja again, two years before she went for those World Championships. In 2013, the girl who once wanted to beat up the boys in her village, made her MMA debut in the Super Fight League – one of Indian subcontinent’s first home-grown MMA promotion companies, which had actor Sanjay Dutt as one of its founders. Puja, hungry for success and itching to prove herself, managed to make her mark there, registering two knockout wins.     

The MMA athlete, who weighs 52 kgs, knew she had to keep evolving, growing, transitioning. And in 2017, she joined ONE Championship – a multinational combat sports promotion company founded in July 2011 by Thai Entrepreneur and martial artist, Chatri Sityodtong, who believes that martial arts is Asia’s “cultural treasure”.

This was a serious step forward for Puja, as she had to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Singapore’s Tiffany “No Chill” Teo, who has 11 MMA wins and only 2 losses in the women’s Flyweight division and Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex, a Muay-Thai kickboxer, who is the reigning women’s Atomweight MMA World Champion in ONE Championship. She has also been the Muay-Thai World Champion and the kickboxing World Champion in One Championship.

But despite facing some of the toughest opponents that the platform could throw at her, Puja stayed focussed and in 2019 she managed to secure a split-decision win against Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol – an Indonesian MMA athlete who won a bronze medal at the 2013 Wushu World Championships and also participated at the 2014 Asian Games in her home country.     

Puja, who has notched up 9 wins in 12 professional fights so far, had already come a long way since being scared of the men in her village in Uttar Pradesh, as a child, while secretly wishing for a different life. But the journey was far from being over. Her next stop was the Matrix Fight Night – another Indian MMA promotion company – which was founded in Mumbai in 2019 by actor Tiger Shroff, his mother Ayesha Shroff and sister Krishna Shroff. It’s a company, that as of March 2024, has hosted 15 premium fight nights. It is also the company that another Indian UFC athlete, Anshul Jubli was associated with. At MFN, Puja transitioned into a win machine. A series of wins culminated in the MFN Women’s Strawweight Championship at MFN 10 in November 2022. 

Historic UFC debut for Puja

And then in June 2024 came the biggest turning point of her career – a UFC debut. Years of hard work, training and complete and utter devotion to her art had finally paid off. And when that debut bout became a historic one, with Puja becoming the first Indian-born athlete to win a UFC fight, Puja knew she had well and truly managed to live her dream. That small girl in Muzaffarnagar, who went to bed each night dreaming of practicing punches and kicks, wanting to slay opponents the way Jackie Chan did in the movies she watched, was in fact living her dream.   

It was a dream that saw many obstacles, but the one unwavering support through everything was Puja’s mother, who, according to ufc.com, always had three words for her daughter – “Puja, just fight”. 

“Even before I joined the UFC, there were multiple challenges that I had to face in the world of martial arts. The biggest challenge was family support. Apart from my mother, no one else supported my dream. Most people, including my male relatives felt that I should look for a government job via my Wushu experience and not do something where injuries are a part and parcel of the job. “Kyon haath pair tudwa rahi hai?” (why are you hell-bent on breaking your limbs?) - I had to hear all these things. But whenever I prayed, I could hear a voice which told me that I have been selected for a much bigger platform and that I should wait and hope,” Puja further told us in an exclusive interaction.     

That voice in her head wasn’t wrong. Puja, who has had as many as six knockout wins in her professional career so far, is not just a shining example of what is possible if a young woman refuses to play by society’s regressive rules, choosing to forge her own path instead, but also a huge inspiration for young girls, everywhere, who are dreaming of finding their martial arts niche in the one of the toughest full contact sports. 

Puja’s dream might have come true, but she hasn’t stopped dreaming. One of her biggest hopes now is to see MMA at the Olympics.   

“It will be a very big achievement. I feel that MMA should definitely be part of the Olympic programme, because it is an amazing sport. I have in fact heard some rumours that there might be a possibility of the sport being added as an Olympic sport,” Puja told Firstpost. 

One of the biggest obstacles facing MMA, as far as potential inclusion in the Olympic programme is concerned, is the lack of a unified governing body, apart from obvious concerns like serious physical injuries and extended recovery time between bouts. But that voice in Puja’s head will keep this dream of hers alive as well. That voice which always told her to – “wait and hope”.