‘Too old’ to Asian Games MMA medallist: Suchika Tariyal’s journey from judo to glory

The gym where Suchika Tariyal trains is modest: a single floor, a makeshift mat, a cage and the equipment needed to prepare for mixed martial arts. It is owned by Vikas Dahiya, an MMA fighter himself.

When Dahiya is out of town, the keys are with Tariyal and her husband, Kapil Hooda.The couple have become so invested in the place that it is more than a training facility. It is part of the routine around which they have organised their lives, with Kapil closely watching his wife's preparation and sharing the emotional highs and lows of her career.

For years, that routine was built around a goal that kept slipping out of reach.

Tariyal moved from one combat sport to another, dealt with selection hurdles, and came close to walking away more than once. The medal she had chased since childhood finally arrived at 36, when she became India's first Asian Games medallist in MMA.“For me, it's more than my life. Because I had a dream since childhood, which has come true today. I mean, I got it late, but I got it. I am very happy about it. I can't believe I have achieved it.

I still can't believe it. But I feel like I have to do more. That's what's in my mind.”The bronze was a first for Indian MMA. Tariyal, though, was still thinking about the final she had missed. The semifinal against Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo went to an additional round and was decided by a weigh-in tiebreak. Tariyal was 700 grams heavier and missed the final.“But I missed a gold medal. I was very sad. I had planned to win gold.

But it did not happen. I am very sad about it.”The disappointment was familiar. Her sporting career had been marked by moments when she came close to a breakthrough, only for circumstances to push her towards another route. Judo had been her first sport, followed by kurash and ju-jitsu, before MMA gave her another chance at an Asian Games medal.

The medal also carried the memory of a time when she had considered walking away altogether.“I had a desire from my childhood, which I made my life and I didn't achieve - either Commonwealth or Asian Games or Olympics. I wanted to get a medal. I wanted people to know about my struggling life, or how I reached here, or how my family helped me reach here.”The girl who wanted to learn how to fightTariyal grew up in Chhawla, near Najafgarh in Delhi, one of four sisters. Her introduction to combat sports came not from a dream of winning medals or building an international career, but from an experience that left her feeling vulnerable as a child.When she was around 12 and sporting a ‘boy cut’, a barber at a salon touched her inappropriately. She returned home without telling her family what had happened, frightened and unsure how to process the incident. The experience stayed with her and eventually shaped her decision to learn how to fight back.“The barber touched me wrongly. I felt very bad. I did not know what was going on. I did not know why this happened to me.”“I did not tell anyone. I did not tell my family. I did not want to go out. I did not want to play. I did not know what to do. I wanted to learn a fighting game, so that if this happens again, I can do it.”Her mother eventually enrolled her in judo. Tariyal had wanted to learn boxing, but she took to judo quickly.“I was crazy about it. I didn't want to study or do anything. I just wanted to play judo. I wanted to give my 100% in judo.”She became an eight-time national judo champion. She won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships, gold at the 2019 edition and gold at the 2019 South Asian Games.Tariyal spent 15 years in judo and tried to qualify for the Olympics, but the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted that pursuit. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she lost the bronze-medal bout in the final seconds.The route to the Asian Games through judo had also become difficult. Ranking requirements made selection challenging, so she turned to kurash, which offered another pathway.She trained for around a year and won the selection trials, but her name was not cleared for the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou until the final days before the competition.“Due to two federations, we were left behind. I didn’t have my name on the list. At that time, Mr Anurag Thakur was the sports minister. He helped us a lot. He made us understand. He listened to us. I got my name in the last moment, but I didn’t get enough training because we were running to get my name cleared.”She competed in kurash at Hangzhou but lost.Another sport, another beginningAfter leaving kurash, Tariyal took up ju-jitsu and became a world champion in 2024.

But the achievement did not guarantee a clear path forward, with the sport’s recognition in India remaining an obstacle. MMA offered another route, giving her a fresh opportunity to pursue the Asian Games medal she had long wanted.

Pooja Tomar and Himanshu Kaushik encouraged her to try the sport. Tomar is a trailblazer in Indian MMA: she became the first Indian woman to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in June 2024, and the first Indian fighter to win a bout in the promotion.

Kaushik also guided Tariyal towards the sport.

Tomar's presence is not limited to that early advice. She lives one floor above Tariyal and Kapil in their apartment complex on the outskirts of Gurugram. The proximity is part of the small circle around the fighter, a network of people who have encouraged her to continue when other routes have closed.Because of her judo background, she was comfortable with grappling but had to develop her striking.

“I am a grappler. I have a judo background. It was difficult for me. I wanted to learn striking,” she said.She gradually worked on the new skills and that transition also opened a route into professional MMA. Tariyal signed a five-fight deal with BRAVE Combat Federation, making her promotional debut at BRAVE CF 92 in Bahrain in December 2024.The deal offered a way to continue competing professionally while she pursued the Asian Games pathway.

Tariyal said she had completed two fights under the contract, with three remaining. Her judo background also shaped her choice of traditional MMA for the Asian Games, where the use of a gi (Judogi) and the emphasis on grappling and throws suited her strengths.Tariyal's career has involved repeated reinvention and each change required her to adapt her training and start again, often without the certainty that the new discipline would bring the medal she wanted.

But the setbacks were not only about results or injuries. As she grew older, she began hearing a different kind of criticism: that she was too old to continue.When they stopped asking for helpKapil, who works in Manesar, had seen how much Tariyal had given to sport. By the time they married, she had a job and a home, but years of chasing a major medal had left her close to giving up. Kapil urged her to continue, even as the financial burden of keeping her career going grew.

“My husband had faith in me. I had given up. I was married and had a good job. I had a house and a husband. Then he believed in me, that I can do it. ‘I have seen you doing it,’” Tariyal said.Keeping her career going cost money. She took unpaid leave from work to train and compete, while overseas camps and travel had to be paid for without any guarantee of a result.“He spent from his pocket, took loans and he trained me. He sent me to Bali.

I went there three-four times for two months. I have a job, and when I go for training, I go without pay. I don't get paid. Whatever I needed, he spent it.”Kapil approached people for financial help, but was repeatedly told that Tariyal was too old to continue. Eventually, he stopped asking and concentrated on doing what he could himself.Tariyal also looked for ways to find sponsors. During COVID-19, she appeared on reality television, hoping the exposure might help fund training and competition.“I thought if I do two-four events, I might get a sponsor,” she said. “If I get a sponsor, I will do it.”However, she dislocated her elbow during one of the shows. The injury put her preparation for the 2022 Commonwealth Games at risk. Even though she recovered in time to compete, she decided not to return to reality shows until she had achieved her sporting goals.“I decided I won't go to such reality shows until I achieve.

I have to focus on my work,” she said.The doubts about her age continued. Tariyal said she heard at training camps that she should step aside and give younger athletes a chance.“A lot of people meet me and say that you have become so old. You have become 30 years old. You can’t play [the sport],” she said. “We still get to hear in the camps that you are too old. You shouldn't play now. You should drop now. You should give a chance to the youth ahead.

So, I have heard this many times.”Her response was to keep competing. “As long as my body is working or I want to play, I can play. And you have seen that I have won a medal,” she said. “The more demotivating people I met in my life, the more motivated I got.”When she moved into MMA, Tariyal said, the federation - MMA-SFI (Mixed Martial Arts Sports Federation of India) - helped with training, food and other requirements and allowed her to use its gym without monthly fees.“I haven't seen such a federation,” she said.She credits Kapil with helping her stay in sport long enough to reach the Asian Games podium. “I would like to thank him. That's why I reached here. It was his dream, which I fulfilled.”The 700 gramsAt Aichi-Nagoya, the pressure of the opening bout was clear to Tariyal. She admitted to her coach that she was scared, only for him to tell her that he felt the same way, but believed she would do well.“I was very nervous at that time. I told my coach that I was scared. He said, ‘It's fair. You are scared, so you are telling the truth.’ I said, ‘Yes, I am scared.’ He said, ‘It's okay, I am scared too. But you will do well. I know you have worked very hard.’”

She focused on winning the quarterfinal and securing a medal. “I had a belief that I have to win this round. Only then I will be able to secure a medal. I played all out. I don't know how I performed in the first round.

I was very disturbed. Will my body work or not? What kind of performance will come? I played and I won. I was very happy.”

The win assured her of bronze. The semifinal tiebreak kept her out of the final by 700 grams. At 36, Tariyal had finally won the Asian Games medal she had wanted since childhood.For now, Tariyal’s focus shifts to the World Championships in November. She will travel to Mumbai to prepare for the event, while the two remaining bouts on her BRAVE Combat Federation contract remain on the back burner.