“I feel glad for her” - Stamp Fairtex downplays Conor McGregor’s support for Ritu Phogat

ONE Championship atomweight stars Stamp Fairtex and Ritu ‘The Indian Tigress’ Phogat are all set for their ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship Final. They will lock horns at ONE: Winter Warriors, scheduled for Friday, December 3rd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

A couple of weeks ago, former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor supported Phogat and India’s MMA contingent in a series of tweets ahead of Diwali.

When asked to comment on McGregor’s tweet about Phogat, Stamp Fairtex shrugged off the news and said she was glad for her Indian opponent.

Stamp Fairtex said in a recent interview with South China Morning Post:

“I feel glad for her. It’s a good thing. If I were Ritu, I would feel like ‘Oh, he is the biggest MMA superstar in the world, Conor McGregor and he would post on Twitter and he supports me.’ You know, I don’t feel bad about it and I would say it’s a good thing. It’s nice for her.”

The Stamp Fairtex vs. Ritu Phogat showdown pits arguably the division’s best striker against the division’s best grappler.

Stamp Fairtex comes from a predominantly striking background, having previously held both the ONE Championship atomweight kickboxing and Muay Thai world titles. Phogat, on the other hand, comes from Indian wrestling fame, and is a member of the Phogat wrestling clan.

Phogat has barreled through the competition in ONE, and is really coming into her own. This hasn’t fazed Stamp Fairtex one bit, and the Thai star is confident heading into this matchup.

Stamp Fairtex had this to say about Phogat’s skills:

“To be honest, the only strength I see in her is her wrestling but for the rest, she has nothing at all. She has no punches, she has no kicking, she cannot do anything long-range like what I have. So I would say she has nothing except wrestling skills. I have the chance to knock her out but however, I think it’s going to depend on the game plan but it might be, I might be the first person to knock Ritu out with my striking skill.”

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Stamp Fairtex aims for three-belt glory

Now ranked No. 2 in the ONE Championship atomweight division, Stamp Fairtex knows what’s at stake in this highly anticipated matchup. Of course, the winner of the tournament will also earn the right to face the division’s queen Angela Lee for the ONE women’s atomweight world championship sometime early next year.

Stamp Fairtex understands how close she is to realizing her goals. She told SCMP MMA:

“As someone who represents Thailand, I need to win this fight. I want to make history, I want to win this Grand Prix tournament. I want that belt on my shoulder and I want to be the first female athlete in the history of Thailand and ONE Championship who is a former Muay Thai and kickboxing atomweight world champion, to become an MMA atomweight champion as well.”

If Stamp Fairtex can beat Phogat, she will make history as the first woman to win a world title in kickboxing, Muay Thai, and MMA.