Puja Tomar, a seasoned mixed martial artist, just signed a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, making history as the first Indian female fighter to do so. The Indian MMA community is especially interested in her octagon debut because Anshul Jubli, another promising Indian contender, lost his UFC debut despite having a strong performance.
Renowned MMA analyst Arjun Chipalkatti remarked in an exclusive interview with India.com that while Puja’s performance on such a grand stage is an enormous honour for everyone in India, it also puts a lot of pressure on her ahead of her debut.
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MMA Analyst Arjun Chipalkatti’s View On Puja Tomar
“She’s on the way. I can’t wait to see how she performs. She’s such a, you know, just like Anshul, she’s young, she’s 28 years old. She’s coming into one of the biggest organizations at the right time. She’s coming with great experience. She’s fought internationally, she’s fought nationally, she won her last fight at Matrix and she’s gotten the blessings of Aisha Shroff as well. And I saw that post that she put up on Instagram. It was very, very heart-throbbing,”
“It’s really heartwarming to see the humility and the humbleness with which both these guys, both Anshul and Pooja now, who’s got her chance now to go into the UFC, the humility with which she’s taking her opportunity shows me that, this new wave of Indian fighters who are now getting their chances to step forward through hard work and dedication. It warms my heart to see it actually happen. it’s a big, big honor and it’s a lot of weight on her shoulders as well,” Arjun Chipalkatti said.
In her most recent MMA fight, Puja Tomar defeated Russian opponent Anastasia Feofanova in a tough match at MFN 12 in Noida Indoor Stadium to win the strawweight title in Matrix Fight Night’s inaugural all-women main event.
There were four rounds in the exciting main event. Puja Tomar knocked out her opponent in the first round with a left-hand hook to the face. Anastasia used her lengthy legs to keep Puja at bay. Anastasia used her height advantage to put Puja in a hold, but on Saturday, the Champion freed herself and dropped strong kicks that startled the Russian.
As the fight went on, Puja displayed incredible defensive skills and was able to keep Anastasia at a distance despite her long reach. Puja continued to focus on Anastasia’s left knee, wearing out her opponent with strong kicks. Puja scored important points by hitting the Russian in the face with a series of combo strikes.
After a suspenseful four rounds, Anastasia broke her forearm while attempting to block Puja’s powerful strikes, and Puja was awarded the victor via TKO with a corner stoppage.