"It's not easy to reach here" - Indian MMA star Puja Tomar reflects on Vinesh Phogat's heartbreaking exit from Paris Olympics over weight issues

Indian MMA star Puja Tomar recently reacted to wrestling star Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from the women’s 50kg wrestling freestyle gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics 2024. Phogat was barred from participation after failing to make the stipulated weight on the morning of the bout.

According to Article 11 of the Competition Procedure, if an athlete does not attend or fail the weigh-in (the 1st or the 2nd weigh-in), he/she is eliminated from the competition and ranked last, without rank. Based on this rule, she was disqualified from the event without medal laurels because she was overweight by 100 grams.

Tomar took to Instagram to react to Phogat's disqualification, writing:

"It was not easy to reach here after so much of struggle, still you have won the hearts of all Indians. Golden girl."

Check out the post below:

She also shared a post on Instagram stories that highlighted Phogat's struggles in the past. The three-time Olympian was among several renowned wrestlers who protested against alleged sexual harassment by a prominent Indian politician.

Check out Tomar's Instagram story below:

Puja Tomar reacts to Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from 2024 Paris Olympics [Image courtesy: @tomar_puja on Instagram]

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How Puja Tomar became the first Indian fighter to win a fight in the UFC

Indian MMA star Puja Tomar took on Rayanne dos Santos in the opening fight of UFC Louisville in a strawweight tilt on June 8, 2024, at the KFC Yum! Center.

Tomar utilized heavy kicks to the body to keep dos Santos at bay. She managed to amplify the offense in the subsequent rounds. The Indian fighter countered dos Santos well even while she was moving backwards. When the tens and nines were tallied, Tomar walked out with a split-decision win with scores of 30–27, 27–30, 29–28.

She revealed in an interview with ufc.com that it was an unfortunate incident, which forced her to take up martial arts training:

"Before, I didn't know what the UFC was. I just wanted to protect my family after my father passed away. So I started to learn karate and kickboxing, and after that, I think I can make my career in martial arts. She [her mother] is always like, ‘Puja, just fight'. She didn't even know MMA and karate, but she said, ‘If somebody says something to you, just kick and punch and come back home.’”