2026 Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya: MMA medals awarded as historic debut reaches finals

NAGOYA, Japan – Mixed martial arts reached another historic milestone at the 2026 Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya on Monday, as the first MMA medals in Asian Games history were awarded and the finalists for Tuesday’s inaugural gold-medal bouts were confirmed.

A total of 12 semifinals took place at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center, with the defeated athletes securing bronze medals and the winners advancing to Tuesday’s finals across all six medal events.

Uzbekistan’s Firdavs ATAMURATOV continued his impressive run in the men’s Modern -60kg category, defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Dastan KANYBEK UULU to secure his place in the final.

ATAMURATOV, who produced one of the standout performances on the opening day by defeating Saudi Arabia’s Malik Waleed A BASAHEL, will now have the opportunity to compete for one of the first Asian Games MMA gold medals.

Photo credit: Asian Mixed Martial Arts Association (AMMA)

Reigning Asian MMA Championship gold medallists Behruz KHURSHEDZODA (TJK) and Yerkingali BURKUTALIN (KAZ) also advanced to Tuesday’s finals in the men’s Modern -71kg and Traditional -77kg categories respectively.

The women’s competition produced one of the day’s closest contests as Singapore’s Hui Hoon TEO and India’s Suchika TARIYAL went to overtime in their Traditional -60kg semifinal. TEO ultimately prevailed on the break-tie-by-weight rule to secure her place in Tuesday’s final, with TARIYAL taking bronze.

Photo credit: Asian Mixed Martial Arts Association (AMMA)

Bahrain’s Diana POGOSIAN also progressed to the Modern -54kg final after defeating Korea’s LEE Bomi 3-0. POGOSIAN will face Thailand’s Kanjutha PHATTARABOONSORN for gold on Tuesday.

FIRST MEDALS AWARDED

Several athletes also secured historic bronze medals as the first MMA medallists in Asian Games history.

Japan’s MURAYAMA Daisuke and Kazakhstan’s Sanzhar ADILOV both took bronze in the men’s Traditional -65kg category, while Philippines’ Carlos ALVAREZ secured bronze in the men’s Traditional -77kg.

For MURAYAMA, the experience has also strengthened his desire to continue contributing to MMA’s development on the international multi-sport stage.

“If there is a pathway where the sport continues progressing from the Asian Games toward inclusion in the Olympic Games, I would like to continue challenging myself in this sport. I hope I can contribute to MMA eventually becoming an Olympic sport.”

COMING UP

With the first medals now secured, the focus turns to Tuesday, when the inaugural Asian Games MMA champions will be crowned starting at 14:00 local time.

Full results and schedule are available here.