Tiffany Teo wins Singapore’s first gold medal at Asian Games with victory in MMA final
Deepanraj Ganesan
The Straits Times
Sept 22, 2026
Singaporean mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Tiffany Teo won the nation’s first gold medal of the Asian Games, after clinching a victory in the women’s traditional 60kg final on Sept 22.
At the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre, Teo defeated Khilola Sobirova of Uzbekistan to round off a sensational Asian Games debut campaign.
It was also sweet revenge for the Singaporean fighter, finally managed to overcome an opponent who beat her in May in the final of the 2026 Asian Mixed Martial Arts Championships.
After the victory, Teo broke down in tears before her husband and coach, Sim Kai Xiong, hoisted her onto his shoulders.
Her win came in overtime after both athletes were judged to have won one round each.
Shortly after the bout, Teo, who had blood marks on her uniform, told reporters she “was really overwhelmed”.
She said: “So I’ve never cried after a fight. So representing Singapore at the Asian Games is just a lot of added pressure and I had high expectations of myself. So when the moment all kind of came together, it felt really overwhelming. Even though I was tearing, it was tears of joy.”
The MMA athlete hopes her win will shine more light on the sport back home.
She added: “A big part of why I decided to compete in Asian Games is to help grow the sport. I’m not getting any younger. I’m probably left with a couple more competitive years, and I’ve been doing this for more than a decade, and I do see myself as a pioneer for the sport of MMA, and it’s quite sad to see that it’s not gaining popularity in recent years.
“And I hope that by competing in this and earning this gold medal for Singapore, people will start to see this as a pathway for MMA as a national sport. Because if you look at other combat sports like boxing, wrestling, judo and so many combat sports, there’s a national pathway to be part of the national team, and this gives them a goal to work towards. So I hope that by showing them there’s this pathway that you can pursue, it will encourage people to take up the sport.”
On Sept 20, the 36-year-old Teo started her journey to gold by beating Iranian opponent Arezou Salimighalehtaki by unanimous decision in the quarter-finals. By doing so, she claimed Singapore’s first Asiad medal in the sport, which was making its continental bow.
With both losing semi-finalists awarded joint-bronze, Teo was assured of at least a medal regardless of the result of her semi-final.
Victory in the semi-final against India’s Suchika Tariyal on Sept 21 was far from straightforward.
The duo drew level after the first two rounds and in the overtime round, Teo took the win after the judges ruled in Singaporean’s favour, and the match appeared done and dusted. But Suchika and her team proceeded to challenge the decision.
As per procedure, the overtime round was video-reviewed by a different set of referees, who overturned Teo’s earlier win and awarded a draw. As a result, a weight tiebreaker was then applied under the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Association (AMMA)’s rules.
But Teo was eventually named the winner because she was slightly lighter at the morning weigh-in – she had tipped the scales at 58.8kg, while her opponent was 59.85kg.
The wiry fighter, who made her professional MMA debut in 2016, has endured a period in the wilderness before this historic victory in Nagoya. From 2016 to 2022, she posted an 8-2 record with One Championship but did not fight for nearly three years after. She returned to the octagon only in June 2025 with Chinese promotion JCK MMA.
Teo’s golden triumph in Aichi-Nagoya kicks off the third day of action at the Asian Games. The 304-strong Singapore contingent’s current medal tally includes Gan Ching Hwee’s historic 1,500m freestyle silver medal and a bronze from wushu exponent Zeanne Law in the women’s taijiquan-taijijian.
At the previous edition of the Games in Hangzhou in 2023, the Republic won 16 medals – three golds, six silvers and seven bronzes.
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