Asian Games 2026: Rocky Balboa fan Varun ready for MMA cage

The Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) cage may be a novelty at the upcoming Asian Games in Japan's Aichi-Nagoya, but India will be represented by a two-member team: Varun Sanyal and Suchika Tariyal Hooda. Varun will be participating in the men’s traditional 77 kg division while Suchika, who represented India at the 2022 Games in Hangzhou in kurash (an ancient, 3,500-year-old form of upright jacket wrestling), will feature in the 60 kg division for women.

A bronze medallist at the Asian championships in China in January, Varun — a Rocky Balboa fan — developed an interest in combat sports courtesy WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and TNA (Total Nonstop Action wrestling). His interest deepened after watching Indian wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt achieving podium finishes at the 2012 London Olympics.

Speaking to SAI media ahead of his departure for Japan, Varun said: ‘’Seeing our Olympians succeed really drew me towards martial arts and eventually towards MMA. MMA is, in many ways, the most primal form of sport and competition, so I was naturally drawn to it. It’s also a life skill. Learning how to defend yourself, stay calm under pressure and make decisions when you’re under physical threat are incredibly important skills. Having to make decisions under pressure, sometimes with very serious consequences, has been one of the biggest learnings I’ve taken from MMA.

The rough-and-tumble of combat sport was out of his comfort zone for Varun, son of author-economist and PM's economic advisory council member Sanjeev Sanyal. Varun himself is a first-class business management honours graduate from Queen Mary University of London, and had tried his hand at several disciplines while growing up in Singapore before zeroing in on MMA.

Looking ahead, Varun feels an Asiad debut could be a game-changer for the sport in India. “The pathway has been a little bumpy. I won the MMA SFI Nationals in 2025, which earned me a berth at the Asian AMMA Championships in January in China where I won a bronze. This meant I was officially ranked within the Asian system.

‘’At the time, it wasn’t particularly clear who had qualified for the Asian Games or what the qualification process was going to look like. There wasn’t much clarity from the Asian side about how the qualification process would work. So rather than sitting around waiting, I decided to focus on my professional career,’’ a candid Varun revealed.

“Eventually, I received final confirmation that I would be going to the Asian Games just two weeks before the Games themselves. Hence, preparing mentally and physically for something of this magnitude in such a short period has been quite a challenge. But I suppose that’s part of sport,’’ he said. 

Asked whether MMA can offer a career option in India, the strapping MMA fighter said: ‘’The government is now aware of MMA and has shown more interest in the sport over the last year than it ever has before. That is certainly a positive step but I understand that MMA is still a relatively new sport and I trust that things will improve with time.”

Varun credited Nikhil Kunder, president of the national federation, for keeping MMA afloat in India. “I know how difficult it must be. The nationals, the events that have been conducted, and a lot of the training and expenses involved in supporting the fighters have been funded by the people running the federation themselves. A lot of that money has effectively gone straight out of Nikhil or the other people’s own pockets.

“We now have two Indian athletes who have qualified and are ranked in the top six in Asia. I don’t see why there can't be more. I don’t see why eventually, we can’t fill all the weight categories in MMA in the same way that we do in sports like wrestling and boxing,” he signed off.