'My Parents didn't want me because I was a girl' - Puja

Puja Tomar laughs nervously as she reveals her parents did not want her initially because she was a girl.

It surprises some of the journalists in the room, but for Tomar - the only Indian woman to ever fight in the UFC - it is the cornerstone of why she is doing this interview.

Her start in life helped to forge her extraordinary resilience and character, her career, and everything she stands for today.

"My family and this society doesn't allow girls, they like only boys," Tomar tells BBC Sport.

"Before I was born, they wanted a boy. Even when I was a newborn, my mum told me my father didn't want a third girl."

Tomar, 31, was born in a small village called Budhana in Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India.

Historically, Indian families wanting boys over girls is common, particularly among poor communities, leading to a skewed sex ratio in favour of men.

There have been instances where unwanted baby girls have been buried alive and left to die in clay pots in the country.

The reasoning is rooted in widely held cultural beliefs that a male child would carry the family name, look after the parents in their old age, and perform the rituals on their death - while daughters would cost them dowries and leave them for their matrimonial homes.

In 2022, the United Nations estimated that nearly 400,000 female births - or 3% of all female births - are missed annually as a result of gender biased sex selection.

Tomar was the third of three sisters, which led to ridicule from other families because her dad had not fathered a boy.

But she did not let the misogyny she faced affect her.

After losing her father at the age of seven, Tomar - supported by her mum - was instead fuelled by the experience.

"After that, I wanted to beat boys. So I learned Jackie Chan movies and kung-fu and how to beat the boys," said Tomar.

"Even in the road I would go up to boys and say 'hey' – I tried to fight with boys. I wanted to prove myself.

"After that I realised I could be in sports, but nobody told me how to do it. My cousins, my family - nobody allows girls to go outside in India. But my mum, she fought for this day."