{"id":262217,"date":"2025-03-19T14:23:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T14:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/exclusive-my-parents-didnt-want-another-girl-they-left-me-to-die-first-indian-to-win-ufc-fight-puja-tomar-mma-news-the-times-of-india\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T14:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T14:23:06","slug":"exclusive-my-parents-didnt-want-another-girl-they-left-me-to-die-first-indian-to-win-ufc-fight-puja-tomar-mma-news-the-times-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/exclusive-my-parents-didnt-want-another-girl-they-left-me-to-die-first-indian-to-win-ufc-fight-puja-tomar-mma-news-the-times-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | ‘My parents didn’t want another girl, they left me to die’: First Indian to win UFC fight Puja Tomar | MMA News – The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Puja Tomar (Instagram Photo)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NEW DELHI: A small village, Budhana, in Uttar Pradesh was wrapped in an unfamiliar aroma of festivity. People turned up in numbers. Puja Tomar had become a queen overnight. Garland after garland was placed around her neck, flower petals showered down on her, and everyone pushed forward, eager for a handshake. It was as if she was a national hero. But, wasn’t she?
In June last year, Puja became the first Indian to win a UFC bout, beating Brazil\u2019s Rayanne Amanda dos Santos in a razor-close split decision.
For her, this wasn\u2019t just a fight won in an octagon — but a fight that began the day she was born.
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\u201cMy parents didn\u2019t want me,\u201d Puja tells TimesofIndia.com, not with bitterness, but a quiet defiance. \u201cWhen I was born, my father fainted. They had already decided not to raise a third daughter. I was left in a pot, to die.\u201d
Puja Tomar was born in the village near Muzaffarnagar, where the value of a girl was often weighed against the eventual dowry.
Her two elder sisters, Anjali and Anu, were already defying the odds: one became a nurse, the other an MBBS doctor. But Puja? She was the one nobody wanted.
\u201cI always felt I had to prove something. Not just to my family, but to the world. That a girl isn\u2019t a burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Puja<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Her earliest heroes, nevertheless, were not athletes or politicians — they were the likes of Jackie Chan and the characters she saw on grainy YouTube videos.
However, she didn\u2019t watch them for entertainment. She watched to learn. By 12th grade, a local karate teacher came to her school. And that was all she needed.
One day, in a karate match, seven-year-old Puja, always eager to throw a punch at boys, hit an opponent so hard they passed out. She was immediately disqualified.
\u201cThis sport isn\u2019t for you — try something else,\u201d she laughs. \u201cBut it felt like I was in a movie — like Jackie Chan. I just knew I wanted to fight.\u201d
“I started off just wanting to beat boys up, but eventually realised this could be a proper sport,” she adds.
With Puja needing more freedom than karate could offer, her real break came through Wushu, a martial art that combines grace and combat.
With her uncle\u2019s help, she found her way to SAI Bhopal. She spent five years there, sharpening her craft.
But when she was offered a job as a constable after years of training, it felt like an insult.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter everything, a constable\u2019s job? I couldn\u2019t accept that,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd my sister was in MBBS. She needed money. That\u2019s when I heard about MMA.\u201d
No contracts. No pay. No guarantee. She fought anyway. Eventually, in Delhi, someone offered her money to fight. She said yes — not for fame, but to pay tuition fees.
From there, the 31-year-old puncher has now reached a point where she can easily spend around Rs 1.5 to 2 lakhs a month on her MMA team.
Off the mat, she sketches. Her wall is covered in drawings and craftwork. \u201cMy hobbies are completely opposite of fighting,\u201d she says, grinning. \u201cBut I love it. It keeps me grounded.\u201d
She prays before fights — not to win, but to find clarity. Her training is brutal: two sessions a day, strict diet, intense drills. \u201cSometimes, the training is so hard I can\u2019t even sleep. But I know it\u2019s what it takes.\u201d
Her coach, Mike, helped her train through an ankle injury that delayed her upcoming fight. Now, she\u2019s set to face Ireland\u2019s Shauna Bannon on March 22 at UFC Fight Night 254.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m mentally ready,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is going to be a big year. My goal is to reach the top. I know I can bring the belt home.\u201d
Before her fight in Louisville, a Japanese interviewer asked her bluntly: \u201cDo you really think Indian fighters can do anything outside cricket?\u201d
It stung.
\u201cI just smiled,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause I wanted to show that India is not just cricket. We have fighters, too.\u201d
On June 8, 2024, she did just that. With a flurry of calculated strikes, relentless pressure, and heart, she edged out Santos in a historic decision. It wasn\u2019t just her win, it was India\u2019s.
Back in her village, people wept in joy. Her mother now walks around proudly saying, \u201cThat\u2019s my daughter.\u201d
ALSO SEE: The good and not so good about Sunil Chhetri’s comeback<\/a>
“My mom is proud and always excited to talk to the media,” she adds.
Her sisters — one in scrubs, the other in a white coat — cheered louder than anyone.
Puja never got to prove herself to her father — he passed away before she could. But in every punch, in every takedown, in every minute of every round, she carries that fire.
\u201cWhen I got older, my mom told me that when I was born, my dad fainted. They had kept me aside to let me die because they didn\u2019t want another girl,” she confesses. “But when I cried, my mom pulled me out of that pot and decided to save me. I always carried that pain. I never imagined he (father) would pass away, but I always wanted to prove to him that the girl who made you faint, she\u2019s capable of so much.”<\/p>\n


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