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Ritu Phogat wins third straight MMA bout

Ritu Phogat’s MMA record thus reads 3-0, showing little rust despite the eight-month break she had coming into the bout

Ritu Phogat wins third straight MMA bout

India's Ritu Phogat, who made her debut in mixed martial arts (MMA), celebrates after winning against South Africa's Kim Nam-hee at One Championship's Age of Dragons in Beijing on Nov 16, 2019. (Photo: IANS)

Ritu Phogat on Friday registered her third consecutive win of her Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) career with a technical knockout win over Cambodia’s Nou Srey Pov at the ONE Championship: Inside The Matrix event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The referee stopped the match two minutes and thirty seconds into the second of three rounds.

Ritu’s MMA record thus reads 3-0, showing little rust despite the eight-month break she had coming into the bout. The 26-year-old 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship gold medallist dominated the first round, landing multiple takedowns while doing damage on the ground in a dominant position.

Phogat landed a pair of solid right hands before taking Nou down to the ground again in the second round, where she finished in top position with strikes.

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“I feel ecstatic to have a hat-trick in my MMA career with this win. Moreover, the hardships and challenges that I faced during to the pandemic have indeed paid off. I feel euphoric to be taking India to a new height in the MMA space and I cannot be more proud. I now look forward to the Grand Prix where I aim to own the world championship title,” Ritu said after the bout.

“I regret that I could not complete three rounds as per my plan. Ritu is too tough and much faster than me,” said Srey Pov, whose record now slips to 1-2. “I feel sorry for my Cambodian fans that I couldn’t deliver a victory for them. However, I promise that I’ll come back stronger than before.”

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