Dream, gratitude, hard work: Puja Tomar – first Indian woman to bag UFC contract
Puja trains at the Soma Fight Club in Indonesia, the same facility used by Anshul Jubli for his preparations for UFC fights and calls the place her "home".
“UFC sabka dream hota hain…” It is indeed hard denying the statement, especially for an amateur MMA fighter. And when you are the first female from your country to bag a UFC contract, the feeling is more surreal and no one can explain it any better than Puja Tomar. The 27-year-old, who has established herself in the Indian circuit, announced signing a contract with the biggest MMA promotion last month, and is expected to make her debut in February-March next year.
“Everyone dreams of fighting in the UFC and I'm proud to become the first female from India to get into UFC. And now I've to deliver my best,” the MMA star told hindustantimes.com at the sidelines of Matrix Fight Night (MFN) at Noida Indoor Stadium last week.
Puja trains at the Soma Fight Club in Bali, Indonesia, the same facility used by Anshul Jubli for his preparations for UFC fights and calls the place her "home". She was the strawweight champion at MFN, having last defended the title against Russia’s Anastasia Feofanova in July. Previously, she has been a five-time national wushu champion before starting her MMA journey with Super Fight League (SFN). Puja was also part of ONE Championship, South Asia’s leading MMA promotion, but her journey there was rather a forgettable one (four losses in five fights).
However, that was past and Puja now has a new challenge ahead, a roster filled with best talent. And among them is current UFC women's strawweight champion Zhang Weili. Like Puja, Zhang too share a similar wushu background and the Indian had always longed stepping into the octagon against her idol.
“Zhang Weili, who is a world champion, is my favourite. She too comes with a similar wushu background, her striking, her physique, I like everything about her. And I've always wanted to fight Zhang Weili one day, but the road is still long, and only hard work can take me there, for which I'm absolutely ready,” she said.
Ritu Phogat informed me about the UFC contract
While Puja mentioned UFC as every MMA fighters' dream, she was clear that only hard work would help her talent get recognised. Puja hit the jackpot after defending her MFN title against Anastasia, and was first informed about the UFC contract by Ritu Phogat, also a MMA fighter.
"If I'll be completely honest it was not like my focus was entirely on joining UFC. I was giving my best and waiting for big organisations to take notice.
“I defended my MFN belt in the last fight, my friend Ritu Phogat was first to inform me about getting a UFC contract. I couldn't believe at that moment but I want to thank my friend Ritu for her support.”
She is also thankful to MFN, who she credits for shaping her into what she is today. "I had participated in many events, but MFN built me slowly. And not just me, but they helped other fighters train outside India and it is the best promotion in India at the moment,” she signed-off.
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