Puja Tomar has signed with the UFC. The reigning Matrix Fight Night strawweight champion made the surprise announcement on her Instagram page just now.
Tomar was released by ONE Championship in 2020 after losing three out of her four fights for the promotion, with the sole win during this stretch coming by way of split decision. But she would go on to win four in a row and won the strawweight title at Matrix Fight Night 12.
Tomar’s record currently stands at 8-4 and it appears her next fight will take place inside the octagon:
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First female fighter
Tomar makes it clear that Matrix Fight Night gave her permission to sign with the UFC, despite her status as a reigning champion with the Indian promotion telling her 400,000 Instagram followers that,
“Yesterday with the blessings of Ayesha Shroff and Matrix Fight Night I signed my UFC contract.”
She becomes the first female Indian fighter to ever sign with the UFC. Anshal Jubli recently fought his way into the promotion by winning a tournament and will be competing in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Jubli, who competes at featherweight, is also a Matrix Fight Night veteran. He is taking on Mike Breeden at UFC 294 which is set for the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
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Small side
Tomar stands at 5’1″ and has spent much of her career competing at atomweight. But she is slightly taller than Loma Lookbonmee who has been a success in the UFC’s strawweight division.
Since her disappointing streak of results with ONE Championship she has beaten four opponents in a row. Her most recent victory came at the expense of Anastasia Feofanova at Matrix Fight Night 12.
It is worth noting that Tomar faced some top tier opposition during her time with ONE Championship. Those losses came at the hands of Tiffany Teo, Jihin Radzuan and newly crowned atomweight champion Stamp Fairtex.
It isn’t clear what will happen with the Matrix Fight Night strawweight title which now sits vacant. But Toma is set to make history by becoming the first Indian women to ever fight for the UFC.
