Tiffany Teo secures Singapore's first Asian Games MMA medal

SINGAPORE: Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Tiffany Teo made history on Sunday (Sep 20) by securing Singapore's first medal in the sport at the Asian Games after advancing to the women's traditional 60kg semi-finals.

Teo, who is making her Asian Games debut, beat Iran's Arezou Salimighalehtaki 3-0 in their quarter-final bout.

With both losing semi-finalists awarded bronze medals, the result guarantees Teo at least a bronze and makes her Singapore's first Asian Games medallist in MMA.

The achievement comes at the first Asian Games to feature MMA in its programme.

The 36-year-old will next face India's Suchika Tariyal in the semi-finals on Monday.

Tariyal booked her spot in the last four after defeating Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in her quarter-final earlier on Sunday, similarly granting India its first Asian Games MMA medal. 

The winner of the fight between Teo and Tariyal will advance to the final of the event, which will be held on Tuesday.

MMA is one of six sports making their Asian Games debuts at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. The others are freestyle BMX, padel, surfing, teqball and virtual taekwondo.