Ritu Phogat and Wu Chiao-chen in action during their women's atomweight fight in Singapore, February 28, 2020. /ONE Championship
Ritu Phogat used her solid wrestling skills again to win her second mixed martial arts competition in the ONE Championship: King of the Jungle event at Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday evening.
During the three-round bout, "The Indian Tigress" Phogat controlled Wu Chiao-chen of Chinese Taipei under her body for most of the time with her excellent ground techniques.
Phogat punched her 36-year-old rival non-stop to get a unanimous win, repeating the same strategy that Phogat had applied during the ONE Beijing event last November.
Phogat's family inspired the hit movie "Dangal." She won three Indian national championships in wrestling before taking gold at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Singapore. The following year, she won a Silver medal at the prestigious World Under-23 Wrestling Championships in Poland, becoming the first female Indian wrestler to do so in the process.
Ritu Phogat of India wins women's atomweight fight against Wu Chiao-chen of Chinese Taipei, Singapore, February 28, 2020. /ONE Championship
The 25-year-old was expected by many to represent India at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo, but she shocked the wrestling world when she announced that she was switching her focus to mixed martial arts instead.
Compared with her previous match in Beijing, her boxing skills improved substantially, but the short-distance punches from the upper position on the ground didn't help her finish the game by knockout.
Ritu Phogat and Wu Chiao-chen during their fight in the women's atomweight fight in Singapore, February 28, 2020. /ONE Championship
In Phogat's home country India, the MMA sport is not familiar to most of the public. So, in a post-match interview she said, "I hope this MMA event could go to India as soon as possible."
Due to the epidemic of COVID-19 in Singapore, this event was held under closed doors.
The fighters of ONE Championship have sent their best wishes to the Chinese people fighting with the virus.