Ritu Phogat suffers One Championship defeat, loses out on possible title shot
- Phogat had a chance to seal her berth in the eight-fighter Grand Prix, which culminates in the title
- Dominating the first two rounds, Phogat lost due to a split decision from the judges
- No longer undefeated, her win-loss record in One Championship currently stands at 4-1
The possibility of a title shot was shattered for India’s
Ritu Phogat in the One Championship on Saturday, as the MMA fighter, suffered a loss at the hands of American fighter Bi Nguyen. The loss, while ending Phogat’s undefeated record (4-0) in the promotion, also drew the curtains on Phogat getting
her hands on the ONE Atomweight title.
After losing the match on a split decision, Phogat’s win-loss record currently stands at 4-1, whereas Nguyen has improved to 6-6, as
per a report by ESPN.
If she had won, the Indian MMA fighter would have been included in the eight-fighter Grand Prix, culminating in a shot at the ONE Atomweight title.
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Going into the bout as a favourite based on her track
record, Phogat, an MMA artist with a predominant grappling background, was seen
scoring multiple takedowns against Nguyen, a classical striker.
Reportedly having dominated the first two rounds, Phogat, however,
did not seem invincible, a stark contrast to her previous matches.
Nguyen, on the other hand, properly timed her strikes,
injuring the Indian with a big left hand and a knee in the second as Phogat
went for a takedown.
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After losing due to the split decision, the fighter tweeted
out her reaction to the outcome of the match.
“Didn’t thought I lost the match but respect the
decision…Am blessed after getting a huge support of you guys around my
country and around the world after today’s match… thankyou everyone…Win and
loss is part of game next time will work hard more..God bless all..stay safe”,
she said in her tweet.
Reportedly, unlike other promotions where fighters are
scored based on their performances in each round and then get a total score for
all rounds, ONE Championship follows a scoring system wherein fighters are
scored based on their total performance in the match, which often stands out to
be the game changer.
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