At a crossroads, Ritu Phogat a win away from creating MMA legacy

On Friday, Ritu Phogat has a battle on her fingers. The wrestler-turned-MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter will tackle Thai striker Stamp Fairtex within the remaining of the ONE Atomweight Grand Prix event. The winner of the competition on the Singapore Indoor Stadium will get a title shot.
Those are the instant stakes, however there’s much more on the road. A defeat right here — Ritu’s second in 5 fights — takes the sheen off One Championship’s nice Indian venture. A win, nonetheless, not solely books a conflict towards the dominant, in style champion Angela Lee, however does so at the absolute best time.
Ritu Phogat. (Source: One Championship)
In early 2019, the two-time junior world silver medallist in wrestling Ritu traded the mat for the cage and shifted to Singapore. “I want to be the first Indian world champion in MMA,” she had declared. The pandemic, and a loss earlier this 12 months at an occasion titled ‘ONE Championship: Dangal’, hindered the marketing campaign. But the 27-year-old has bounced again with three gutsy wins, and the MMA world is taking discover.
In November, megastar Conor McGregor — out with a damaged leg — seemingly found India and the 1.3 billion-strong potential shopper base for his whiskey model. Sandwiched between references to yoga, chess, the Golden Temple and India’s ‘national drink whiskey’, the Irishman retweeted information of Ritu’s newest victory with the caption: “Rooting for the Indians to make a stamp in this game soon.”

“You can’t talk about MMA without a mention of Conor McGregor,” Ritu says when requested in regards to the shoutout. “He has lost a couple of fights, but you have to wear your defeats with pride in MMA. He will definitely make a successful comeback.”
But Ritu stays a fan of McGregor’s nemesis Khabib Nurmagomedov: the wrestling virtuoso from Dagestan, Russia, who smothered and pulverised opponents into submissions and dominant wins. Ritu’s type is comparable. She has managed to translate her wrestling pedigree into MMA, draining and hurting opponents with a number of takedowns.
Key to win
Her match-up on Friday is a throwback to the early days of the game, the place practitioners of varied martial arts engaged in ‘what if’ contests. Fairtex, 24, is a striker supreme, with practically 100 kickboxing, muay thai, and MMA fights below her belt.

The ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Champion shall be topped THIS FRIDAY! Who will or not it’s? 👑 @PhogatRitu #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship#ONEWinterWarriors | 3 Dec | How To Watch: https://t.co/YlCCWjOPa1 pic.twitter.com/cdBZ2ksQVd
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 2, 2021
The information are similar at 7-1. Five of Fairtex’s seven wins have come by way of stoppages i.e. knockouts and submissions. Ritu has three ground-and-pound stoppages to her title. For Fairtex, it’s about protecting the gap and placing Ritu from the skin. The Indian in the meantime has to maneuver inside and take the fighter down.
“If the fight goes to the ground, I will have to find a way to get back into my own game,” Fairtex mentioned throughout a current interview with ONE commentator Michael Schiavello. “I will not play her game. I think that if she would try to stand and fight with me, she would get knocked out.”
Ritu hasn’t gone scot-free. A feisty, tough competitor since her wrestling days, Ritu has typically tried standing her floor and buying and selling blows, and has been punched within the face for her efforts. On the bottom, she has been put into perilous positions, with opponents trying to contort her limbs into submission or choke her out. But what she lacks in finesse, she makes up for together with her coronary heart.
“Ritu is a warrior and has many strengths,” Siyar Bahadurzada, Ritu’s coach at Evolve, advised The Indian Express. “Her wrestling, work ethic, and one that exceeds them all is her mental toughness.”
“Every fight has been tough, but that is the big challenge I love,” says Ritu. “Last 2-3 fights have been especially tough, against very experienced opponents. But when somebody punches me, it gets me even more riled up, more aggressive. I have learned many things. During these difficult moments in a fight is the time to not give up.”
Ritu Phogat beat South Korea’s Nam Hee Kim. (Source: One Championship)
She spent her lockdown binge-watching and getting impressed by the ‘Never Back Down’ MMA film franchise. But the mantra was instilled below father Mahavir Phogat’s tutelage.
“He has been learning a lot about this sport. Even now, he keeps saying, ‘I hope you’re giving your 100 per cent’. He doesn’t know that this close to the match, the fighters don’t overexert themselves, to avoid injuries,” she laughs. “He’s in India but still keeps track of my training and how much work I’m putting in. It gives me a lot of motivation.”
During her pre-fight pressers, Ritu has been speaking in regards to the want for presidency recognition and awards for MMA fighters, and the roadmap for future rivals from India and the trail she is paving for them.
A win on Friday will lend critical weight to these calls.
Live: Ritu Phogat vs Stamp Fairtex on Hotstar from 5pm IST