Our Friday Fighter this week is Indian MMA Star and CWG Gold medalist Ritu Phogat. Hailing from Bhiwani, Haryana, Ritu comes from a family of wrestlers. Her sisters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari are considered two of India’s greatest female wrestlers. The youngest Phogat sister, i.e. Ritu Phogat after conquering the world of wrestling had transitioned to MMA
Back in February of last year, Phogat had signed for the popular Asian MMA promotion ONE Championship. She made her professional MMA debut in last November at ONE Championship: Age of Dragons against Kim Nam Hee.
In February this year she made extended her MMA record to 2-0 in dominant fashion against Wu Chiao Chen of China at the ONE: King of the Jungle in Singapore.In this fight, Ritu Phogat showed her elite ground game and dominated her opponent over three rounds.
Ritu Phogat is a dominant wrestling phenom,but she believes that she has a lot of room for improvement with sterner tests coming up in the future. She has also revealed that she has her eyes set on becoming India’s first MMA champion in 2020.
Prominent MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz has stated that Ritu Phogat can be a world champion in the near future. Ali Abdelaziz is the owner of Dominance MMA, which manages some of the best fighters in the world including the likes of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.
In a short time, Ritu Phogat has become the face of Indian Mixed Martial Arts. Ritu Phogat has also joined the cast of the hit reality competition show ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition. The show is helmed by entrepreneur and business mogul Chatri Sityodtong, who is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship. Contestants from around the world will compete in high-stakes challenges designed to test their limits, with the ultimate prize being a once-in-a-lifetime US$250,000 job at ONE Championship working under Sityodtong himself.
Ritu Phogat extended her MMA record to 3-0 yesterday with a win over Nou Shrey Pov via TKO in the second round at ONE: Inside the Matrix with a dominant performance
Speaking to The MMA India Show, a few months ago , she said that she wants to test herself against ONE atomweight Muay Thai champion Stamp Fairtex.
“My wrestling is elite and in the fight, I will use it and make sure that she fights to my strength,” Phogat concluded.
A Champion in the making, we wish her all the best for her future fights