'Indian Tigress' roars into spotlight

Wrestler Ritu Phogat proves a surprise hit with impressive MMA debut in Beijing

Indian wrestler Ritu Phogat stole the show at One Championship's return to Beijing on Saturday with a ruthless performance in her debut for the mixed martial arts promotion.

Despite varied results for the local favorites at the show, 'Age of Drgaons', One Championship's third event in the capital since 2014, proved a huge hit at Wukesong Arena, where 13,000 spectators oohed and aahed at every punch, kick and knockdown on the 11-bout card, which included two world-title fights.

Chinese kickboxer Wang Wenfeng failed to wrest the world flyweight belt off defending champion Ilias Ennahachi after losing a five-round nail-biter to the Dutch-Moroccan striker by split decision, while Meng Bo gave the home fans something to cheer when she knocked out Argentine veteran Laura Balin at 2:18 in the first round of her One Championship atomweight debut.

To the surprise of organizers, however, the highlight of the night proved to be Indian wrestling sensation Phogat's maiden MMA fight, against South Korea's "Captain Marvel", Kim Nam-hee.

The "Indian Tigress" took just three minutes and 37 seconds to dispatch Kim in the atomweight bout with a powerful ground-and-pound attack that sent the capacity crowd to their feet.

Already known in China for being depicted in hit movie Dangal-a sports biopic about her famous wrestling family-Phogat said she was more proud to have shown the nation her combat skills than her film connection.

"The movie was just a brief introduction to my family," Phogat told China Daily through an interpreter after the fight. "Through MMA and tonight's performance I want to build my own identity as a competitive MMA athlete. This was the first step in that direction."

Guided by her father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, a renowned wrestling coach in India, since she was 8, Phogat defied prejudice in her native country to win India's first silver medal at the 2017 World Under-23 Wrestling World Championships in Poland. Her ambition, though, reaches much further than that milestone.

The 25-year-old, who he is being tipped to represent India at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, shocked the wrestling world by signing up with One to switch her focus to the brutal and challenging realm of MMA.

"My goal is to win an MMA world title in two years," she said.

Currently honing her craft at Singapore's world-renowned Evolve gym, Phogat considers her wrestling background as an advantage in MMA, but realizes she needs to bring her striking and submission skills up to par to become the complete package.

"For me as a wrestler making it to MMA, my grappling skills are a benefit. Takedown is very easy for me. I just do the same thing-I take (opponents) down and I strike," said Phogat, who won gold at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in Singapore.

Sharing the spotlight with Phogat as a victorious One Championship debutant, Meng has also set her sights on a world-title shot.

The two-time Chinese national MMA champion, who missed two earlier opportunities to make her One debut due to injuries, said she can't wait to launch her challenge for the women's atomweight golden belt, which is currently held by Angela Lee of Singapore.

As a tuneup, Meng has a preference for facing Japanese icon and two-time world-title challenger Mei Yamaguchi.

"I believe sooner or later, the belt will be mine," said Meng after her TKO victory against Balin. "I don't want to rush it though. I will take one firm step at a time."

In Saturday's co-main event, Ukrainian giant Roman Kryklia defeated another Dutch-Moroccan power puncher, Tarik Khbabez, via a second-round TKO to avenge an earlier loss and become the inaugural One light-heavyweight kickboxing world champion.

China's Miao Litao lost his strawweight clash against Filipino striker Jeremy Miado in the opening bout of the night after being knocked out by a flying knee at 3:01 in the first round.

Earlier in the day, One Championship announced a strategic partnership with the owner of Wukesong Arena, the Beijing-based Bloomage International Investment Group. Both parties plan to stage more combat sports events in China as part of the deal.

Covering the full spectrum of martial arts, including Muay Thai, kickboxing, karate and taekwondo, One is on mission to promote Asian martial artists around the world, having opened two offices in China (Beijing and Shanghai) and staged nine events on the Chinese mainland in total.

"One Championship remains dedicated to delivering Chinese martial arts fans the very best in sports entertainment," said the promotion's president, Teh Hua Fung.

"Showcasing our elite Chinese One Championship athletes and giving them the global platform to shine is our goal."