Ritu Phogat joins countryman Arjan Bhullar to represent India at ONE 161 on September 29

Indian MMA superstar Ritu Phogat will make her much-awaited return to the Circle at ONE 161: Bhullar vs. Malykhin. The Commonwealth Wrestling Gold medalist will face Singapore’s Tiffany Teo on the September 29 event, which will be held inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Last week, it was announced that India’s first MMA world champion, Arjan Bhullar, will headline the event opposite Anatoly Malykhin in a ONE heavyweight world title unification bout.

Teo, a former ONE women’s strawweight world title challenger, expressed her desire to move down to the stacked women’s atomweight division after two failed bids at the strawweight belt. The Singapore boxing champion is coming off a second-round submission victory over China’s Meng Bo in January this year.

Meanwhile, ‘The Indian Tigress’ was last seen in action in the final round of the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix, where she fell to the eventual tournament champion, Stamp Fairtex. After more than half a year training and recovering, Phogat is confident that she can get right back in the win column.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Phogat shared her excitement to finally be back in action.

"I am thrilled to be back in the fighting ring and am eagerly looking forward to my match with Tiffany Teo. My long break has helped me to fully recover and I feel that I'm stronger than ever before and ready to crush my opponent."

Ritu Phogat aims to resume her quest to make history at ONE 161

After bringing glory to her home country in wrestling, Ritu Phogat hopes to do it again in MMA. And what better way to resume her climb to the top of the division than by doing it in a card headlined by the first fighter to claim a world title for India in Arjan Bhullar?

While Phogat understands the threat that Tiffany Teo poses, ‘The Indian Tigress’ remains adamant that she can overcome her latest rival in the Circle.

“I have been training intensely over the past few months and I am confident that although my opponent is one of the world’s best female martial artists, I will manage to defeat her. I look forward to making my country proud by winning this bout and continuing India’s first female mixed martial arts world champion,” she said.