In a fiercely contested women's 60 kg MMA fight, Suchika Tariyal was defeated by a very narrow margin. The bout was declared a draw after regulation time, leading to a one-minute overtime. Even after overtime, the result remained unresolved and was marked as a draw. However, the Indian MMA Association protested the decision, which reinstated the draw officially. Despite this, the final outcome was decided using a detailed tie-break system based on specific rules designed to ensure a clear winner and loser in MMA events.
The tie-break rules include five criteria, starting with the number of warnings given to each athlete, followed by advice received during the bout. If those factors are equal, the decision moves to the pre-competition weight of the fighters. Should that be the same, post-competition weight is considered, and if all previous factors are still identical, assistant referees decide by raising flags, essentially a lottery. These rules were applied to Suchika's match, where the initial criteria failed to separate the athletes.
Unfortunately, Suchika lost out on the pre-competition weight criterion, as she weighed 700 grams heavier than her opponent in the morning weigh-in. This weight difference gave victory to her opponent, who was lighter and thus progressed to the final. Indian MMA president Nikhil Kunder confirmed that Suchika settled for bronze while the lighter Singaporean moved into the gold medal bout.
This outcome is especially hard considering Suchika was just one win away from fighting for gold in the semi-finals. Unlike other weight-related controversies, Suchika was within the prescribed weight limit; her opponent was simply lighter by a small margin. This case highlights how minute weight differences can play a decisive role under tie-break rules in combat sports, leading to deeply emotional results for athletes.