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ONE Championship atomweight Ritu 'The Indian Tigress' Phogat has been working hard on her comeback to the embattled ONE circle.
Phogat was last seen inside the ONE cage in a losing effort against eventual title challenger Stamp Fairtex. While she put in a valiant effort to win, it wasn't Phogat's night.
Phogat had her entire country rooting for her to become the first Indian female MMA world champion. The former amateur wrestling champion has one of the best and most frenetic wrestling games in women's wrestling today.
In a recent Instagram post, we saw 'The Indian Tigress' working on some conditioning workouts with functional performance coach Stuart Bauld in Singapore.
In her fight with Stamp for the ONE Championship atomweight Grand Prix tournament championship, Phogat was able to find some success with her wrestling. Perhaps the wrestling prodigy is looking to improve her functional strength to reinforce her grappling prowess.
The Instagram post had the caption, "Mujhe khud se jeetna hai," which roughly translates to:
"I have to win by myself"
Loaded words from the wrestling machine. Yes, MMA requires an athlete to overcome a physical adversary. But to win, one must overcome the most formidable opponent there is: herself. The battle is largely internal and Phogat understands this.
Watch her workout video here:
Ritu Phogat lost to Stamp Fairtex in her last outing in ONE Championship
Ritu Phogat was on the cusp of history when she faced the surging Stamp Fairtex for the ONE Grand Prix tournament belt late last year.
Despite being good with her gameplan of nullifying Stamp's striking prowess by taking the fight to the ground, Phogat wasn't able to handle the Thai's submission game.
Phogat got Stamp on her back and on the cage for the most part, but wasn't ready to counter the submission attempts. Stamp sunk in a triangle choke but Phogat defended it well.
Then, the charismatic Thai transitioned to an armbar and ended the night for Phogat. Here's to hoping that the Indian sensation has learned from her tactical mistakes and comes back even stronger.
Watch their full fight here:
