Athletes
Puja Tomar: History In The Making
Meet The Inspiration Behind Puja Tomar's Long And Grueling Journey To The UFC
“Puja, just fight.”
Those three words have followed Puja Tomar throughout her career in combat sports, and it led her from India to the Octagon, where she will become the first woman from her country to compete in the UFC when she meets Rayanne dos Santos in Louisville.
The owner of those words, Tomar’s mother, who has always been in her corner and always wanted her to take this as far as she could go.
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“My mom has always been very excited for every one of my MMA fights, and one day she asked me which one is the biggest one,” said Tomar from her training camp in Bali. “I say, ‘Mama, UFC.’ So she said, ‘Puja, I want to be see you in UFC.’ I just say, ‘Yeah, mama, I train, and one day I'm going to UFC.’ And when I told her that now I'm in UFC, she was crying and she's so excited and so happy.”
Every UFC debut is a big deal. This one is bigger because the 30-year-old native of Muzaffarnagar isn’t just representing herself and her family; she’s representing a nation that hasn’t exactly been a hotbed for the sport over the years. And consider that Tomar is the first woman from India in a promotion that has had women fighting in the Octagon since 2013. So this means a lot.
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“Everybody in India is very excited for me because I’m the first Indian female fighter in UFC and for India, the people are stoked because a girl hasn’t represented India on this platform.”
Anshul Jubli and Bharat Kandare have represented India on the world stage in the UFC, as has Canada-based Arjan Singh Bhullar, but the ladies haven’t had their shot until now, and Tomar, a Wushu fighter who arrives with an 8-4 record that includes six knockouts and a four-fight winning streak, has the opportunity to open the door for her peers back home.
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“I'm thinking now it's going to be Indian all the way up because before it wasn’t growing, but right now in India, female fighters and male fighters are waiting for this, to get to UFC.”
There will be some who tune in on Saturday and think Tomar fell out of the sky and into the Octagon. It’s not like that. It’s been a long journey, one that started when a 12-year-old Tomar lost her father and started training to protect her family.
“Before, I didn't know what the UFC was,” she recalled. “I just wanted to protect my family after my father passed away. So I started to learn karate and kickboxing, and after that, I think I can make my career in martial arts.”
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And once she found MMA, everything clicked. And here she is, following her proud mama’s advice.
“She is always like, ‘Puja, just fight,’” said Tomar. “She didn't even know MMA and karate, but she said, ‘If somebody says something to you, just kick and punch and come back home.’”
UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Imavov took place live from KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky on June 8, 2024. See the final Prelims & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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