Ritu Phogat Shines With TKO Win In Mixed Martial Arts Debut

Wrestling sensation Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat kicked off her mixed martial arts career in spectacular fashion at ONE: AGE OF DRAGONS.

The 25-year-old needed just three minutes and 37 seconds to dispatch “Captain Marvel” Nam Hee Kim by TKO with a powerful ground and pound attack on Friday, 16 November in Beijing, China.

As a multiple-time national wrestling champion from a famed family of wrestlers that inspired the hit film Dangal in her native India, Phogat was under pressure to perform. However, she looked composed and shined under the spotlight.

It took less than 30 seconds for the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships gold medalist to shoot for her first takedown. Though she was pushed away at first, “The Indian Tigress” was methodical with her approach and soon dragged the contest back to the canvas.

On the ground, she shredded through Kim’s defense by moving effortlessly from half-guard into side control. Once she got into a dominant position, Phogat quickly latched onto Kim’s arm and locked her in a crucifix position.

From there, she began to rain down a torrent of hard punches and elbows. The grimace on Kim’s face showed how much trouble she was in as she absorbed punishment with no way to escape.

After more than half a minute of unanswered offense, referee Olivier Coste had seen enough and called a stop to the contest, which gave the Evolve representative the signal to celebrate her first professional win.

The way the Indian icon put her top-class wrestling to work in her new sport proved she will be one to watch in the women’s atomweight division as she works toward her dream of a World Title.

Read more: 5 Action-Packed Prelims Kick Off ONE: AGE OF DRAGONS