Mixed Martial Arts in Delhi

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on UFC.com — Anshul Jubli athlete profile and feature coverage, ESPN, Sherdog, Tapology — Anshul Jubli fight records, The Better India, KhelNow, MMAIndia — Jubli profiles, Sportstar — 'The Jubli Effect' (Puja Tomar, Road to UFC coverage), Gulf News — Matrix Fight Night coverage. These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin: Modern era
Category: Combat
Olympic discipline: No
Paralympic discipline: No
Central pathway: None recorded
Athlete profiles on SportSupport: 5

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body: MMA India Federation
Ministry recognition: Not currently verified
International federation: Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion: Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility: Not currently verified
Olympic status: Not on the Olympic programme
Paralympic status: Not a Paralympic discipline

Mixed Martial Arts is listed on SportSupport in the combat category. Its recorded origin is Modern era. It is not on the Olympic programme. We list MMA India Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Mixed Martial Arts does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, and we hold no verified central pathway or current-year Ministry recognition record for it, so we make no Khelo India, TOPS, National Sports Development Fund or pension claim. Whatever competition exists is run by clubs, akharas, private promoters or state-level bodies. (Checked against Sports Authority of India / Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — Discipline wise Participation in all editions of Khelo India Games (19th Edition).)

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for mixed martial arts athletes in India.

No central scholarship pathway
We hold no verified central pathway for mixed martial arts and no current-year Ministry recognition record for a national body, so we make no Khelo India, TOPS or National Sports Development Fund claim for it.

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Indian Players

5 profiles

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Rules

Mixed martial arts bouts are contested in a cage or ring under the Unified Rules of MMA, which most Indian and international promotions follow. Non-title fights run three rounds of five minutes; title and main-event fights run five. Fighters compete in weight classes from strawweight up to heavyweight, with a weigh-in the day before. Striking with fists (in 4-6 oz open-finger gloves), elbows, knees and kicks is allowed standing and, in most rulesets, on the ground; grappling, clinch work, takedowns, throws, chokes and joint locks are all permitted. Fights end by knockout, technical knockout, submission, referee or doctor stoppage, corner retirement, or judges' decision scored 10-point-must on effective striking/grappling, aggression and cage control. Fouls include head-butts, eye pokes, groin strikes, strikes to the back of the head or spine, downward elbows, small-joint manipulation, biting, hair-pulling, throat strikes and kicking a grounded opponent's head. Anti-doping testing applies at the international level.

Authoritative rulebook: MMA India Federation.

Positions

Typical roles across combat sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced mixed martial arts squad list.

Fighter / competitor
Contests bouts inside the ring, mat or cage in a set weight category.
Corner / second
Coach in the corner during the bout — allowed to instruct between rounds.
Referee & judges
Officiate the bout, score rounds and enforce safety rules.
Cutman / medical
Manages cuts, swelling and immediate medical needs between rounds.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in mixed martial arts at a federation-recognised event.

4-6 oz open-finger MMA gloves supplied to promotion specification
Mouthguard and groin protector (chest protector required for women in most rulesets)
Fight shorts (no pockets, zips or shoes); sports top for women
Training gear: 16 oz boxing gloves, shin guards, headgear, focus mitts, Thai pads and heavy bag
Grappling mats and a cage or ring for sparring and fight-week preparation
Hand wraps, ankle supports and strength-and-conditioning equipment

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

MMA India Federation

MMA India Federation is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Mixed Martial Arts. We hold no sourced detail on its domestic calendar, selection norms or state structure, and no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it.

Origin: Modern era
Olympic: No
Paralympic: No
Category: Combat

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Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in mixed martial arts.

Matrix Fight Night (MFN)
India's premier MMA promotion, founded by Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff with Krishna Shroff, holding events in India and Dubai since 2019. MFN has been the launchpad for nearly every Indian fighter who has gone on to international promotions.
Governance note
MMA in India lacks a single, universally-recognized national federation — the sport's competitive structure runs primarily through private promotions like MFN rather than a government-recognized national championship system.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in mixed martial arts.

UFC
Anshul Jubli ('King of Lions') became the first Indian to win a fight in the UFC, stopping Jeka Saragih via TKO at the Road to UFC finale in February 2023 to earn both a UFC contract and a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. He was the second Indian ever signed by the promotion, after Bharat Khandare. His professional record stands at 7-2, with losses to Mike Breeden (UFC 294, 2023) and Quillan Salkilld (UFC 312, 2025).
UFC — women's milestone
Puja Tomar, from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, became the first Indian woman signed to the UFC roster. A former wushu practitioner who moved to MMA in 2013, she competed in Super Fight League and ONE Championship before winning the MFN strawweight title.
Road to UFC
The UFC's Asian development tournament has become India's main international pathway — Sumit Kumar and Rana Rudra Pratap Singh both competed in its second season.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for mixed martial arts. The national championship under MMA India Federation remains the top domestic competition.

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International Players

Globally recognised mixed martial arts athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for mixed martial arts maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in mixed martial arts — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

Jubli's path illustrates both the opportunity and the infrastructure gap: he was a mathematics teacher from Dehradun who took up MMA partly to improve his chances of joining the Indian Army, and had to relocate to Delhi to train because his hometown had no MMA facilities
Training abroad has become a common route — Jubli and Puja Tomar both train at SOMA Fight Club in Bali, Indonesia, and several Indian fighters have trained at UFC Performance Institute facilities
Coaching quality within India is improving, with Indian coaches like Siddharth Singh (Crosstrain Fight Club, Delhi) developing internationally competitive fighters domestically
Beyond fighting, allied careers include coaching, gym ownership, strength and conditioning, and promotion/event management as MFN and similar organizations professionalize

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Related academies

0 listed

No mixed martial arts academies are catalogued in the directory yet. Browse the full academy list or list your academy to appear here.

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FAQs

Common questions about mixed martial arts in India.

Who governs Mixed Martial Arts in India?▾

We list MMA India Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for Mixed Martial Arts, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Mixed Martial Arts an Olympic sport?▾

No, Mixed Martial Arts is not on the Olympic programme.

What government schemes support Mixed Martial Arts athletes?▾

TOPS does not apply, as Mixed Martial Arts is outside the Olympic programme. State-government cash awards or sports-quota employment can apply where a state notifies the discipline, which varies by state. Mixed Martial Arts does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Mixed Martial Arts in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Mixed Martial Arts in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.