In October 2023, the UFC signed its first Indian woman fighter, Pooja Tomar. In June 2024, she won on her UFC debut. In 2025, she endured her first loss inside the Octagon. And now, in 2026, Tomar will walk out in Macau for her third UFC bout, this time against a Chinese opponent, in front of a Chinese crowd.Tomar has been at the centre of Indian MMA’s most significant period of international visibility. She has also learned, during that same stretch, that being the first to do something and being secure in your position are two entirely different things. The UFC does not keep fighters on its roster for symbolic reasons. The record has to move.Her UFC record currently stands at 1-1, and at 32, she is not exactly a prospect being groomed for the future. A win is pivotal for the Budhana-born fighter to maintain momentum and keep her options open. A loss, however, could place her at a crossroads. Tomar understands that reality and does not attempt to dress it up.“I haven’t spoken to anyone about it [my UFC future], but yes, my team and my coaches always tell me that victory is very important for Pooja, and I believe that too. For me, for my country, and for Indian MMA, this victory is very important,” Tomar told TimesofIndia.com ahead of her fight against Shi Ming.
The Stakes in Macau
Ming arrives in Macau as something close to a home fighter. The Chinese strawweight won the Road to UFC Season 3 tournament to earn her UFC contract, and even though she herself is coming off a loss to Bruna Brasil last August, many still remember Ming’s stunning knockout of Feng Xiaocan in 2024, a brutal head kick that sent Xiaocan to hospital and secured Ming’s UFC deal.Tomar, though, appears unfazed by Ming’s credentials. Ming’s professional record reads 17-6-0 compared to Tomar’s 9-5-0.“I understand that, yes, I had already been in the UFC before Shi Ming,” Tomar said confidently. “And I have also fought some very good fighters. So I feel I have gained good experience, and I believe I can do better than her.”And Tomar is laser-focused on securing a big win.“I feel that this time I have worked even harder. I want to make my UFC record 2-1, and for that I need this victory. Right now my focus is only on that. There is nothing else in my mind, I just want to go there and bring back a big victory,” she said.
The slow rise of MMA visibility in India
Tomar’s signing was historic, and after her win on UFC debut in Louisville in 2024, the response in India was warm, widespread, and briefly very loud. She believes her presence on the global stage will eventually have a larger impact on the growth of MMA in India.“After my first victory, I saw that MMA had grown quite a lot in India. People started realising that Indian fighters are also competing in the UFC. Many people in India watch the UFC, but even today a lot of people still do not know that Indians represent the country in the UFC.“So for me, it has been about continuing to win more fights so that Indian fighters can get recognition within our own country, and people can see that Indian athletes are competing at this level in the UFC,” she said.Beyond the fight itself, Macau also represents a significant moment for South Asian MMA. On the same Road to UFC Season 5 card, there will be at least one more Indian fighter competing, alongside a Nepali athlete. In UFC history, having more than one South Asian athlete on a single card has been genuinely rare. For Tomar, it is a sign of things to come.“It has always been like this, if I am alone and I achieve victory, then in the future many doors will open for a lot of MMA fighters,” she said. “This time there are already two, next time there will be four, then ten. That is how the sport will grow.”Chungreng Koren, the former Matrix Fight Night interim bantamweight champion nicknamed ‘The Indian Rhino’, will step into the Road to UFC Season 5 quarter-finals on May 28 as a late replacement, taking on Japan’s Ryuho Miyaguchi. Nepal’s Rabindra Dhant will enter the same bantamweight bracket as the first Nepali fighter ever to appear in the Road to UFC series, Dant also emerged from Matrix Fight Night and someone who has previously faced Koren.
Why Tomar Believes MMA Can Go Mainstream in India
The sport itself has changed the conversation around MMA in India, even if it has not changed enough yet. For Tomar, the days when explaining MMA to a sceptical Indian parent meant starting from scratch are slowly fading.“A lot has changed compared to before. There is a new generation that is very excited about becoming MMA fighters. MMA has grown a lot compared to earlier days, although some people are still not fully comfortable with the sport. They feel that other sports are safer than this. But overall, the sport has definitely grown a lot.”And Tomar has witnessed that shift firsthand.“Many girls from my village come to meet me now,” she said. “In my own family, I have a niece who started doing a little boxing after watching me.“They feel, if Pooja can do it, then why can’t we? Back then, circumstances were much more difficult, and today there is far more freedom and opportunity. The biggest thing is that they should never give up.”
From Budhana to the UFC
Tomar grew up in Budhana, Muzaffarnagar, a farming community where she lost her father at an early age, worked in sugarcane fields as a child, and left for Meerut at around 12 after a local karate teacher sparked her interest in martial arts at school.She would go on to train formally in Wushu, winning five national gold medals and representing India at the World Wushu Championships.When the Sports Authority of India offered her a government job, she turned it down. Around the same time, her sister was in medical school and needed financial support. Tomar heard that someone in Delhi would pay her to fight MMA, and she accepted, initially to help cover tuition fees.She turned professional in October 2013 in the Super Fight League, finishing her first two opponents in 21 and 24 seconds respectively.After a gap, she returned in 2017 and signed with ONE Championship, where she suffered three losses before being released in 2020.She rebuilt her career through India’s Matrix Fight Night circuit, winning four straight bouts between 2021 and 2023, including the inaugural MFN Women’s Strawweight Championship. That run eventually earned her a UFC contract.Tomar has previously spoken about wanting to help develop MMA in India, through gyms, infrastructure, and creating pathways for fighters. But ask her what will truly make the Indian public sit up and notice the sport, and the inevitable IPL comparison enters the conversation.“Maybe not right now [a UFC event in India], but in the coming years, the UFC can reach the level of the IPL in India,” she said. “The day the UFC hosts an event in India, a lot of people will truly understand the level of this sport and how big it really is.”Whether she is still competing when that moment arrives is a question this Macau fight may help answer. A win keeps the road open.
