The Indian wrestler-turned-MMA fighter, currently ranked fourth, faces the No 2-ranked Fairtex in the final of the Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship Final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The winner of this bout will then go on to face Angela Lee for the atomweight world title next year.
File image of Indian mixed martial-artist Ritu Phogat. One Championship
Ritu Phogat faces Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex in one of the biggest bouts of her career so far at the ONE: Winter Warriors event in Singapore on Friday.
The Indian wrestler-turned-MMA fighter, currently ranked fourth, faces the No 2-ranked Fairtex in the final of the Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship Final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The winner of this bout will then go on to face Angela Lee for the atomweight world title next year.
Discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the two fighters and making her prediction for the upcoming bout, Vietnamese-American atomweight Bi “Killer Bee” Nguyen, who has faced both Phogat and Fairtex in the past, believed the Thai fighter was the more dangerous and “well-rounded” of the two.
“I believe Stamp (Fairtex) is more dangerous now. She has improved on the ground immensely. Ritu (Phogat) has done well, but I believe Stamp has become more well-rounded,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen had faced Fairtex in 2019, dropping a unanimous decision to the former ONE Atomweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion after a three-round battle. Two years later, she would hand the ‘Indian Tigress’ her the first defeat of her MMA career after slightly edging out the wrestler from Balali, Haryana by a split decision.
Speaking on the areas the two fighters needed to work on before the showdown on Friday, Nguyen felt Phogat needed to work on her defence coming in for the takedown.
“If I was Stamp, I would work on my footwork. You cannot stand still against a high level wrestler like Ritu. If Stamp could move more, she would do a lot of damage with her strikes,” Nguyen said.
“On the other end, Ritu needs to tighten up her defense coming in for the takedown. She needs to get Stamp down, and keep her down.”
ONE: Winter Warriors goes down this Friday night, 3 December, live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium. In the main event, ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion Regian Eersel defends the belt against Russian sensation Islam Murtazaev.