Pooja Tomar became the first Indian athlete to win in UFC

Pooja Tomar became the first Mishra Martial Fighter to win the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Pooja, who is participating in this type of tournament for the first time, won 30-27, 27-30, 29-28 strawweight (52 kg) over Brazil's Ryan dos Santos at UFC Louisville on Saturday. Pooja said after the match, “This is not just my victory. This victory belongs to the fans of India and every Indian fighter. Earlier everyone used to think that no Indian fighter would ever win. I was just thinking about winning and I showed that the Indian fighter is not one to lose.” 30-year-old Pooja, popularly known as 'Cyclone', signed a contract with the UFC in October 2023 and thus became the first Indian woman to participate in the martial arts tournament. Earlier, Anshul Jubili and Bharat Kandare represented India on the UFC stage. Born in Budhana village, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, Puja is a five-time national wushu champion and has also competed in karate and taekwondo.