MMA News: Can Ritu Phogat Complete Her Dark Horse Tale By Winning Atomweight GP?

The ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix is nearing its conclusion, and Ritu Phogat’s road to the finals was not without difficulty.

Phogat had an absolutely dominant debut in ONE Championship against Nam Hee Kim of South Korea in 2019, finishing her via TKO due to strikes to kickstart a four-fight win streak.

She was then tasked with fighting Bi Nguyen at ONE: Dangal last May.

Her wrestling skills were put to the test against Nguyen’s striking ability, and it looked like Phogat was set to cruise to a decision victory after repeatedly taking the Vietnamese-American down to the mat.

However, the judges saw otherwise and gave the split decision in favor of Nguyen due to her strikes throughout the fight and initiative to get out of the ground game.

Phogat’s loss to Nguyen almost had her forfeit her spot in the tournament but cemented it by soundly defeating China’s Heqin Lin with a more aggressive style of fighting.

She faced Meng Bo in the opening round of the tourney at ONE: Empower, almost getting finished in the first round after eating a straight right from Meng.

“The Indian Tigress” regained her wits and got the unanimous decision victory.

Japanese grappler Itsuki Hirata was originally scheduled to face Phogat in the semifinals but pulled out due to an illness, wherein Team Lakay’s Jenelyn Olsim was called up to take her place.

Despite the short-notice change in opponents, her wrestling skills were in full display once more against Olsim and rode it to a unanimous decision victory.

Phogat will now face Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex in the finals at ONE: Winter Warriors on Friday, December 3.

Stamp is the ideal opponent for Phogat to prove her quality on the feet as the former two-sport ONE world champion has a phenomenal striking game and an improved ground game that she showcased against Julie Mezabarba in the semifinals.

In order to secure a victory, Phogat needs to maintain a safe distance away from Stamp’s reach before shooting for a takedown, but not before pulling off some striking combos to chain into the attempt.

Once Phogat has control of Stamp on the ground, she needs to move quickly and efficiently in order to secure the finish quickly.

Allowing the fight to drag on to the later rounds will only give Stamp and her side enough time to work a game plan against her takedown attempts.

It also goes without saying that Stamp has knockout power, and Phogat will surely be aware of that as well heading into their match.

All in all, a win over Stamp will give Phogat the distinction of completing an improbable run to being named the World Grand Prix champion and a golden opportunity to face Angela Lee for her atomweight title in the near future.