Ritu Phogat Explained

Other Names:The Indian Tigress
Birth Date:1994 5, df=yes
Birth Place:Balali, Haryana, India
Nationality: Indian
Height Cm:156
Weight Kg:52
Weight Class:Atomweight
Style:Wrestling
Fighting Out Of:Singapore
Team:Evolve MMA (2019–present)[1]
Years Active:2019–present
Mma Kowin:3
Mma Decwin:4
Mma Subloss:2
Mma Decloss:1
Sherdog:349751
Relatives:Daya Kaur (mother)
Mahavir Singh Phogat (father)
Geeta Phogat (sister)
Babita Kumari (sister)
Sangita Phogat (sister)
Occupation:Mixed martial artists, Wrestler

Ritu Kumari Phogat (born 2 May 1994) is an Indian mixed martial artist who competed in the Atomweight division of ONE Championship. She is also a female wrestler who won a gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship.

Early and personal life

Ritu is the third daughter of former wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and started training under her father at the age of eight.

Her sisters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari as well as cousin Vinesh Phogat are all Commonwealth Games gold medalists in wrestling. Another cousin of her, Priyanka Phogat, is also an international level wrestler. In November 2022 Ritu married Advocate Sachin Chhikara.

In 13 June 2024, Phogat gave birth to her baby boy with her husband.

Wrestling career

In October 2016, Phogat won her second consecutive title at the annual National Wrestling Championships. In November 2016, she won the gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in Singapore in the 48 kg category.[2]

In December 2016, she became the most expensive female wrestler at the Pro Wrestling League auction, bagging a 36 lakh INR contract with the Jaipur Ninjas franchise.[3] [4]

In November 2017, she won silver in the 48 kg category in World U-23 Wrestling Championships being held in Bydgoscz, Poland. This is India's first silver in the championship.[5]

Mixed martial arts career

ONE Championship

In February 2019, Phogat signed with ONE Championship with the intention of making her mixed martial arts debut.[6]

Phogat made her mixed martial arts debut against Nam Hee Kim at ONE Championship: Age Of Dragons in November 2019. She said, "In MMA my goal is to become the first Indian World champion."[7]

Phogat faced Nou Srey Pov at ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix on 30 October 2020.[8] She won the fight via TKO.[9]

Just over a month removed from her last bout, Phogat faced Jomary Torres at ONE Championship: Big Bang on 4 December 2020. She won the fight via TKO due to elbows.[10]

ONE Atomweight Grand Prix

Phogat faced Bi Nguyen at ONE Championship: Dangal on 15 May 2021 for a spot in the 2021 ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix.[11] Phogat lost by split decision, suffering the first loss of her mixed martial arts career.[12]

Phogat was scheduled to face Meng Bo in a quarterfinal bout of the 2021 ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix at ONE Championship: Empower on 28 May 2021.[13] Instead, she faced Bi Nguyen in what was considered to be a warm-up bout. She lost the bout via a split decision. Due to the loss, Phogat was removed from the Grand Prix.

Phogat faced Lin Heqin at ONE Championship: Battleground on 30 July 2021.[14] She won by unanimous decision. She has been added in the 2021 ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix after displaying dominant performance against Lin Heqin.[15]

Phogat faced Meng Bo in a quarterfinal bout of the Atomweight World Grand-Prix at ONE Championship: Empower on September 3, 2021.[16] After surviving an early onslaught in the first round, Phogat went on to dominate the final two rounds to win by unanimous decision and advance to the Grand Prix Semi Finals.[17]

Phogat was scheduled to face Itsuki Hirata in the semi-final bout of ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix at ONE Championship: Next Generation on October 29, 2021.[18] However, due to sickness, Hirata had to pull out of the bout and was replaced by Jenelyn Olsim.[19] Phogat won the fight by unanimous decision.[20]

Phogat faced Stamp Fairtex in the ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix Final at on December 3, 2021.[21] [22] She was defeated by submission via armbar in the second round.[23]

Continued ONE career

Phogat faced former ONE Women's Strawweight title challenger Tiffany Teo at ONE 161 on September 29, 2022.[24] She lost the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.[25]

On February 28, 2023, it was announced that Phogat had signed a three-year exclusive deal with Kumite 1 League.[26]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts record

|-|Loss|align=center|7–3|Tiffany Teo|Submission (rear-naked choke)|ONE 161||align=center|1|align=center|4:52|Kallang, Singapore||-| Loss|align=center| 7–2| Stamp Fairtex| Submission (armbar)|||align=center|2|align=center|2:14|Kallang, Singapore||-| Win| align=center| 7–1| Jenelyn Olsim| Decision (unanimous)| ONE: NextGen| | align=center|3| align=center|5:00| Kallang, Singapore| |-| Win| align=center| 6–1| Meng Bo| Decision (unanimous)| ONE: Empower| | align=center|3| align=center|5:00| Kallang, Singapore| |-| Win| align=center| 5–1| Lin Heqin| Decision (unanimous)| ONE: Battleground| | align=center|3| align=center|5:00| Kallang, Singapore||-| Loss| align=center|4–1| Bi Nguyen| Decision (split)| ONE: Dangal| | align=center|3| align=center|5:00| Kallang, Singapore||-| Win| align=center| 4–0| Jomary Torres| TKO (elbows)| ONE: Big Bang| | align=center|1| align=center|3:55| Kallang, Singapore||-| Win| align=center| 3–0| Nou Srey Pov| TKO (punches)|ONE: Inside the Matrix| | align=center|2| align=center|2:02| Kallang, Singapore||-|Win|align=center|2–0|Wu Chiao Chen|Decision (unanimous)|ONE: King of the Jungle||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Kallang, Singapore||-|Win|align=center|1–0|Nam Hee Kim|TKO (punches)|ONE: Age of Dragons||align=center|1|align=center|3:37|Beijing, China||-

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Famous Indian wrestler Ritu Phogat joins Evolve MMA. 26 February 2019. asianmma.com.
  2. News: Sandeep Tomar, Satyawart Kadian, Ritu Phogat bag gold at Commonwealth Wrestling Championships. 2 January 2017. The Indian Express. 5 November 2016.
  3. News: Yadav. Sidharth. The next Phogat. 2 January 2017. The Hindu. 31 December 2016.
  4. News: Bajrang Punia, Ritu Phogat top Indian buys at Pro Wrestling League auction. 2 January 2017. ESPN.in. 19 December 2016.
  5. News: Dangal 2: Another Phogat sister sets the mat on fire. 27 November 2017. The Times of India. 26 November 2017.
  6. Web site: Indian wrestler Ritu Phogat signs with ONE Championship. James Goyder. 27 February 2019. mmamania.com.
  7. News: Ritu Phogat 'anxious' to become India's first MMA world champion . Jonathan . Selvaraj . 5 November 2019 . 22 June 2020 .
  8. Web site: ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX FULL LINEUP REVEALED. Asian Persuasion MMA. 2020-10-13. 2020-10-23.
  9. Web site: Sadu . Rahel . India's Ritu Phogat defeats Nou Srey Pov via TKO to earn 3rd ONE Championship win . indianexpress.com . 30 October 2020 . 30 October 2021.
  10. Web site: Danny Kingad faces Kairat Akhmetov at ONE: 'Big Bang'. 23 November 2020. asianmma.com.
  11. Web site: Brandon Vera to defend heavyweight title against Arjan Bhullar at ONE: 'Dangal' . Asian MMA. 2021-04-29. 2021-05-01.
  12. Web site: 2021-05-15. Ritu Phogat stumbles to first MMA loss, out of One title shot. 2021-05-15. ESPN.com. en.
  13. Web site: Marc Raimondi. 12 March 2021. ONE women's atomweight grand prix to launch on all-women's card in May. ESPN.
  14. Web site: 2021-07-17. Aung La Nsang faces Leandro Ataides at ONE: 'Battleground' Asian MMA. 2021-07-20. AsianMMA. en.
  15. Web site: 2021-07-30. ONE Championship – Battleground results: Aung La N Sang, Victoria Lee impress in stoppage wins. 2021-07-31. MMA Junkie. en-US.
  16. Web site: Cruz. Guilherme. 2021-08-16. ONE Championship's all-women's card back on for next month. 2021-08-17. MMA Fighting. en.
  17. Web site: Anderson. Jay. 2021-09-03. Ritu Phogat Survives Early Onslaught, Gets Past Meng Bo at ONE: Empower. 2021-09-03. Cageside Press. en-US.
  18. Web site: 2021-09-24. Ritu Phogat faces Itsuki Hirata in atomweight Grand Prix semi final Asian MMA. 2021-09-24. AsianMMA. en.
  19. Web site: 2021-10-25. Ritu Phogat gets new opponent at ONE: 'NextGen'. 2021-10-25. Asian MMA. en.
  20. Web site: Anderson. Jay. 2021-10-29. Ritu Phogat Survives Upkicks, Wins Decision Over Olsim at ONE: NextGen. 2021-12-03. Cageside Press. en-US.
  21. Web site: 2021-11-12. ONE Championship announces ONE: Winter Warriors card in December. 2021-11-12. mymmanews.com.
  22. Web site: 2021-11-12. Saygid Arslanaliev faces Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE: 'Winter Warriors'. 2021-11-12. Asian MMA.
  23. Web site: Anderson. Jay. 2021-12-03. Stamp Fairtex Submits Ritu Phogat, Wins Atomweight GP at ONE: Winter Warriors. 2021-12-03. Cageside Press. en-US.
  24. News: Ritu Phogat to face Singapore's Tiffany Teo on September 29 . The Times of India . 15 August 2022 . 10 September 2022.
  25. Web site: Taylor . Tom . ONE Championship 161: Tiffany Teo slams Angela Lee after making statement on atomweight debut . scmp.com . 30 September 2022 . 30 September 2022.
  26. Web site: Ritu Phogat signs three-year exclusive deal with Kumite 1 League. MMA India. Jay Rock. 2023-02-28. 2023-03-01.