Tiffany Teo Reflects On Ritu Phogat Win, Wants Title Shot Against ‘Sore Loser’ Angela Lee
Tiffany Teo’s decision to drop down to the atomweight ranks was justified with a dominant victory on Thursday, September 29.
The local favorite scored a first-round submission over Ritu Phogat on the ONE 161 main card at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and announced herself as an immediate threat in the division.
Teo, a former two-time ONE Women’s Strawweight World Title challenger, was not surprised by her ability to finish “The Indian Tigress” in that fashion.
However, the Singaporean admits she was somewhat shocked when Phogat stayed true to her word of trying to showcase her striking for the first portion of the match.
Teo said:
“She did what I expected. I knew that she likes to go for the single-leg, and then she likes to drive you to the cage to finish her takedown. I watched all of her fights, and that’s kind of what she did for all them. So, I wasn’t surprised that she did that. But I was surprised that she was really trying to strike with me.
“I read some interviews where she said she will try to knock me out, and she really did try to strike with me. I was like, ‘Oh, ok, she’s trying to stand and bang for a bit.’ But I think wrestling was just her comfort zone. So, when she realized that she couldn’t really implement her game plan on the stand-up, she went to whatever she was comfortable with.”
When Phogat did opt to close the distance, “No Chill” was ready for it. She quickly took her rival’s back and worked on securing the finish. The Indian tried to fend off the attacks, but she eventually succumbed to a rear-naked choke at the 4:52 mark of the opening frame.
Now that Teo has earned a victory in her new division, she’s eager to challenge reigning atomweight queen Angela Lee. However, she would have moved back up to strawweight for that chance if the circumstances were different.
She explained:
“The best case scenario for me was if Angela won [her trilogy fight against Xiong Jing Nan at ONE on Prime Video 2 for the strawweight belt]. And if I’m the top contender in strawweight, then it makes sense for that match to happen. I was at the stadium, I was ready to call her out if that happened.
“Now I’m leaning towards a fight at atomweight because I really want to fight Angela next.”
Tiffany Teo Wants To Finish Angela Lee
With Angela Lee on her radar, Tiffany Teo watched closely as the atomweight queen challenged ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 2.
After a five-round war, “The Panda” retained her gold via unanimous decision. Lee ultimately disagreed with the result and made her thoughts known, but the Singaporean doesn’t think her argument holds up.
Teo said:
“I feel like she’s a sore loser, right? I feel like, under the ONE Championship rule set, for sure she didn’t win the belt. And also, you can’t just cry over it just because you lost. It’s double standards because when Denice [Zamboanga] lost, she was like, ‘Don’t leave it to the hands of the judges.’”
Given Lee’s reaction to the result, Teo would hope for a more emphatic outcome if she does get matched up with the reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion in the future.
“No Chill” wouldn’t want to leave any room for debate. That means the Singaporean would be chasing the finish so Lee could not convince herself that she was the real winner.
Teo said:
“It might be a bit controversial if it reaches the judges’ scorecards, so in a fight with Angela, I definitely need a finish to not let the judges decide.”
