Tiffany Teo able to maintain strength ahead of atomweight debut against Ritu Phogat

Heading down into a lighter weight class will always bring forth a few issues along the way, but Tiffany Teo is confident that she won't be losing much strength in her move from strawweight to atomweight.

Teo will have her first test in a new weight class when she takes on Indian grappler Ritu Phogat at ONE 161: Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai on September 29 at the Singapore Indoor Arena.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Tiffany Teo admitted that she was worried she would lose some of her strength if she went down from 125 to 115 pounds.

Despite her worries, the Singaporean star has seemingly been able to maintain her strength. That's thanks to her teammates and coaches who kept pushing her in training.

Tiffany Teo said:

“I’m very confident that there’s not much difference in my strength, physically. That was one of my worries going down to atomweight: a smaller frame and kind of losing my strength. So I’ve been constantly getting feedback from my coaches and training partners. Every time I train with them, I would ask them, ‘Do I feel weaker? You have to tell me if I feel weaker!’ The feedback has been good, they say, ‘Nah, you’re the same.’ We don’t really know how that works, but I feel like I kept my strength even though I’m dieting and I’m going down to a lower weight class, so I’m really confident about that.”

Another thing that Tiffany Teo did diligently was to work on her nutrition. The former ONE women’s strawweight world title challenger revealed that she sought the help of US-based nutritionist John Sassone.

Sassone, a former fighter himself, holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He helped WBC and WBO super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton in his fight against Daniel Roman this past June.

“I started working with a nutritionist, his name is John, and he’s based in the US. His Instagram is Combat Sports Dietitian. He has a Ph.D. in nutrition and he was a fighter himself before he retired to become a nutritionist. The cut has been going really, really well with him, as he has been guiding me. Even though I’m on a calorie deficit, I’m still getting the nutrients that I need. I’ve been supplementing with a lot of ingredients to keep my performance at a high level. So I feel great, I don’t feel that I’m weaker even though I’m a bit smaller now.”

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Tiffany Teo blasts Ritu Phogat's credentials

Tiffany Teo has been in the fight game for more than six years now and she’s practically unfazed about going up against Phogat come ONE 161.

In the same interview with ONE Championship, Teo said that Phogat is a one-dimensional fighter and one who relies too much on her wrestling instead of utilizing the other areas of the sport.

‘No Chill’ added that Phogat’s only weapon is her grappling and that the ‘Indian Tigress’ is highly vulnerable on the feet.

“I think that’s the only advantage she has, to be honest. I mean, that’s the only thing she can do, based on the fights that I’ve watched. I don’t see her trying to strike with her opponent. I think on the ground is where she’s more confident, right?”