Last-minute dash, accomodation chaos, weight cut attempt: How Varun Sanyal's Asian Games nightmare unfolded

NEW DELHI: By the time Varun Sanyal finally reached his room in Nagoya, nearly 12 hours had passed since landing in Japan. He had flown from London to Mumbai, collected his Asian Games accreditation card, travelled via Singapore, spent hours proving he was a registered athlete, and then found himself sharing a room that wasn't meant for three people.A few days later, he was lying outside a sauna, hyperventilating after collapsing during a weight cut attempt that ended his Asian Games campaign before it had begun.Yet Sanyal, who has now returned to London, would rather remember the Asian Games as the moment mixed martial arts (MMA) forced itself into India's sporting conversation."Instead of focusing on what didn't happen, you focus on what did," he said in a conversation with TimesofIndia.com, referring to teammate Suchika Tariyal's historic bronze medal — India's first Asian Games medal in MMA.For a sport making its Asian Games debut, that perspective may prove more significant than his own heartbreak.A fighter who almost wasn't thereSanyal's road to the Games was anything but straightforward.The 26-year-old had earned qualification months earlier, but uncertainty over selection meant he shifted his attention back to his professional MMA career. Ranked among Asia's top six, he was eventually drafted into the Indian squad only two weeks before the Games after another athlete became ineligible under the Sports Ministry's selection criteria.Those two weeks became a race against time.He was recovering from a staph infection, reorganising an international training camp in England, arranging travel documents, and attempting to shed nearly five kilograms to make the lightweight limit — all while preparing for what should have been the biggest tournament of his career.On paper, Sanyal arrived in Nagoya as one of India's brightest MMA prospects. The Delhi-based fighter had already built an impressive résumé across amateur, semi-professional and professional circuits, compiling 17 bouts in just four years and establishing himself as one of the country's most active competitors. But nothing in that experience prepared him for the chaos that awaited off the cage.The Games before the GamesThe accommodation chaos became one of the defining stories of Aichi-Nagoya 2026, and Sanyal finds a mention in that storyline.His name was missing from the registration list upon arrival. Officials at the Expo Hall directed him to the cruise ship that served as the Athletes' Village, where another round of explanations began from scratch. Questions over whether he was even registered followed, despite the accreditation card that had allowed him into Japan. The issue was eventually resolved only after intervention from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), but not before an entire day had disappeared.The logistical mess exposed a deeper problem for Indian MMA.I just remember that I finally hit the 30-minute mark and I stood up. And when you're dehydrated, you start seeing black, like you're starry-eyed. You get that head rush. I was completely out of it. I push the door to the sauna, and then there's this tiny bench, which I just flat out start lying down on, and I'm hyperventilating. Honestly, this whole thing feels like a fever dream.Unlike many established sports, the MMA contingent travelled without coaches being granted accreditation inside the cruise. Some of the coaches paid for their own flights, hotels and transport, while the athletes were left to manage themselves inside the village.That meant Sanyal wasn't simply preparing to compete. He became translator, manager and teammate rolled into one.He helped Suchika navigate anti-doping procedures, searched the sprawling cruise ship for medical assistance and even sprinted between decks looking for an iron to prepare India's competition kits.In another sport, those responsibilities would belong to support staff. In India's newest Games discipline, they fell to the athletes themselves.30 minutes of chaos inside the saunaIf the accommodation saga tested Sanyal's patience, the weight cut attempt tested his body.Competing in the 77kg category is slightly misleading. Because athletes weigh in wearing a gi and belt weighing around 1.5kg, competitors effectively need to reach roughly 75.5kg. Sanyal normally walks around at 80kg and had managed to cut down to 77.5kg before the final cut.Two kilograms remained and the clock was ticking down.Inside the sauna, the first few minutes were almost routine. Fighters from Kyrgyzstan, Singapore and Brunei chatted casually while everyone sweated through the final stages of preparation. Then dehydration began taking over.Sanyal remembers measuring time only through the sauna clock — one checkpoint after another. Around the 30-minute mark, he stood up, experienced a severe head rush and stumbled onto a nearby bench before collapsing.I have cut weight before and made it to the tournaments, so that wasn't the challenge. I think it was the short time window accompanied with all the stress, travel, etc. Plus just not having anyone there."I just remember that I finally hit the 30-minute mark and I stood up. And when you're dehydrated, you start seeing black, like you're starry-eyed. You get that head rush. I was completely out of it. I push the door to the sauna, and then there's this tiny bench, which I just flat out start lying down on, and I'm hyperventilating. Honestly, this whole thing feels like a fever dream," he said with a laugh.A Nepali athlete alerted his coach, who then attempted to communicate with Japanese medical staff through a translation app while Sanyal insisted, somewhat irrationally, that he did not want water because he still needed to make weight."My body was really overheated at this point. I felt like I had a fever. I said I need to speak to my coach. Fortunately, the person near me was Nepali, so my coach spoke to him in Hindi. They then took me to a medical facility. There, my coach asked them to give me electrolytes. They spoke in Japanese and with limited English. Meanwhile, I am out of it and still saying not to give me anything because I am trying to cut weight."Eventually, doctors treated him for dehydration and overheating, and medical advice to rehydrate immediately meant his Asian Games campaign officially ended.Looking back, Sanyal thinks it wasn't the smartest decision to cut weight. Doing it alone, after frantic travel and with virtually no recovery time, only added to the risk."I have cut weight before and made it to the tournaments, so that wasn't the challenge. I think it was the short time window accompanied with all the stress, travel, etc. Plus just not having anyone there. I think had I done it in a more systematic way while I was there in the sauna, maybe."I don't want to speculate because then I start thinking of what could have been. And then it becomes a bit frustrating," he explained.The medal that changed MMA's India storyWhile Sanyal recovered, Suchika Taiyal won a bronze medal and became the first Indian MMA athlete to stand on an Asian Games podium. Sanyal had been in her corner throughout the competition — not officially as a coach, but as the closest thing India had inside the village.Her medal, coming controversially, altered the conversation.For years, MMA in India has largely existed outside the mainstream sporting ecosystem, thriving in independent promotions while fighting for institutional recognition. The Asian Games offered legitimacy, and the medal offered proof that the country could compete with Asia's best.Sanyal believes that is the real legacy of Nagoya.The federation (MMA-SFI) itself is barely over a year old, yet India has already produced medals at the Asian Youth Games and now the senior Asian Games. For a discipline only just entering the multi-sport landscape, those results matter as much as infrastructure.His own story, strangely enough, helped too.The accomodation controversy, the viral videos that went with it, the failed attempt at playing the continental showpiece brought unprecedented attention to a sport that rarely finds itself on front pages. It wasn't the publicity he wanted, but perhaps it was the publicity Indian MMA needed."We still came away with a medal despite everything going on, which I think is huge. Two things to this. The medal showing that we (can) produce results. The federation that sent us has only been in existence for just a little over a year or so. And even at the Asian Youth Games, medals were produced. So I'd say the biggest takeaway is that the federation and the athletes have shown that MMA fighters can produce results. Now I would like the government, the corporate sponsors and the audience to get behind the MMA fighters," said Sanyal."If you ask my personal takeaway, I'm glad that there was so much interest shown. It was at my expense but the fact of the matter is so much media attention went on the sport, put on the athletes and for that I'm grateful. So for me that that's the biggest takeaway," he continued.Sanyal left Nagoya without stepping into the cage. Yet in many ways, his toughest fight had already been won: convincing an entire country that MMA belongs on its biggest sporting stage.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.