Puja Tomar has made history in the MMA world by becoming the first Indian to win a fight in the biggest MMA promotion, the UFC. She defeated Brazilian fighter Rayanne dos Santos at UFC Louisville 2024. Tomar hails from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and had already set a record last year by becoming the first Indian woman to get a UFC contract. Puja’s first ever win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship came via split decision.
Tomar dominated the first round
During the match, both fighters displayed great strength and it was a close contest. Puja dominated the first round with strong body kicks that landed properly on her opponent. She made Rayanne think twice about moving forward in the contest in the first round. Dos Santos gained the upper hand in the second round, constantly moving forward and forcing the Indian fighter to counter while moving backwards. In this round, Rayanne decided to take the same approach as Tomar, going for kicks more. She was successful in doing so, as both women went at it.
She dedicated her win to fellow Indians
The final round was quite exciting and evenly contested, but Tomar’s decisive push-kick knockdown gave her the win. After her victory, Tomar dedicated the moment to fellow Indian fighters and MMA fans. She stated that before her win, everyone thought Indian fighters did not have the right to be on a platform like UFC. Puja said that she wanted to show that Indian fighters are not losers.
The Indian Fighter aims to move to a higher level
Puja is a former national wushu champion and has competed in other MMA promotions like Matrix Fight Night and ONE Championship. She suffered four straight losses in the ONE Championship and left the promotion to join Matrix Fight Night in 2021. “The Cyclone” won four bouts here, last defending the title against Russian fighter Anastasia Feofanova. Tomar is currently one of the best female fighters on the Indian circuit and aims to improve herself more and move up.
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