Ritu Phogat has vowed to bounce back from her ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix final loss to Stamp Fairtex and wants a rematch with the Thai star.
Speaking at the post-fight media conference, Phogat said:
"Of course I will come back, I'm determined to come back stronger than ever before. Definitely I would like to do a rematch with Stamp. Of course I would want to. Today was her [Stamp's] day but not everyday is going to be her day. So I'm waiting for that day where I can show Stamp what a Ritu Phogat day looks like."
Phogat put together impressive back-to-back displays on her way to the final where she utilized her wrestling to overcome China's Meng Bo and the Philippines' Jenelyn Olsim. Stamp is a former Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion in ONE and is not known for her grappling prowess.
Despite this, the Thai star did a brilliant job of stopping Phogat's takedowns before pulling off the shock armbar submission to win the match in the second round.
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Phogat has bounced back before
Phogat was adamant that she will learn from the loss. This was only the second defeat of her career. Her previous setback came against Bi Nguyen where she dropped a split decision in May. Phogat took great heart from the way she responded on that occasion as she went on to record three of the biggest wins of her career:
"Definitely, that motivates me," said Phogat. "You win some and then you learn some. Your wins or your losses will always leave you with a lesson. I will work on all of my strengths and weaknesses. I will not repeat what I've done today. I'm going to come back stronger than ever before. I'm going to put my heart, my blood and my sweat and I will make sure that next time I'm going to set the record straight for everyone."
Remarkably, Phogat has fought five times in 2021. That's more than any fighter in any major organization. That consistency in her activity speaks to what a hard worker she is. Her exploits have even drawn praise from Conor McGregor.
Hard luck today Ritu Phogat! A setback for a greater comeback! Let’s go Ritu! Let’s go India! We march on! 🇮🇳 ❤️ ☘️ twitter.com/the_bridge_in/…
As it stands, Stamp is set to take on Angela Lee for the atomweight title early next year. Phogat maintains that her goal is still to be a champion one day so it will be interesting to see who she faces next. More interesting still is whether or not she eventually gets a chance to face Stamp in a rematch.
