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Ritu Phogat entered ONE Championship carrying the weight of an entire nation on her strong shoulders.
On November 16, three years ago, ‘The Indian Tigress’ first roared inside the Circle against Nam Hee Kim at ONE: Age of Dragons inside the Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. A lot of eyes were fixated on Phogat that evening, as both fans and pundits were curious to see if she’d live up to the massive hype.
The Evolve MMA standout, after all, is one of the most decorated wrestlers to join the ONE banner. Before storming the promotion’s women’s atomweight ranks, Phogat was already a superstar in India after winning the gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in the 48 kg category.
She also gave the country its first silver medal in the 48kg category at the World U-23 Wrestling Championships. Phogat is also part of the revered Phogat wrestling family, whose success inspired the 2016 record-breaking Bollywood movie Dangal.
As soon as the bell rang, Phogat imposed her will on her opponent through her incredible wrestling skills, performing a beautiful double-leg takedown. Her South Korean foe showed impressive guard skills at first and forced Phogat back on her feet.
The Indian wrestler proved that she was not a one-trick pony by holding her own in the striking department. But once Nam got too close for comfort, Phogat returned to what she does best and grabbed a leg for another successful takedown.
'The Indian Tigress’ wisely moved to side control and applied immense pressure this time. She rained down bomb after bomb in a bid to escape from Nam’s deep half-guard. After a brief scramble, Ritu Phogat was able to pin the South Korean’s arm and transitioned to a mounted crucifix.
With Nam’s head left unprotected, the Indian unleashed some nasty ground-and-pound strikes, battering her face with punishing punches and elbows. The referee gave ‘Captain Marvel’ every chance to fight back, but she was eventually saved from further harm at the 3:37 mark of the first round.
Hop aboard a time machine and re-watch Ritu Phogat’s stunning ONE debut here:
Ritu Phogat gets married to Sachin Chikara
Three years after that memorable victory, Ritu Phogat has racked up six more wins inside the Circle and was even a runner-up for the ONE women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix.
The 28-year-old recently shared a glimpse of her personal life and celebrated her wedding with her now-husband Sachin Chikara.
Phogat wrote on Instagram:
“I’m so lucky to be called your wife now and I can’t wait to spend the rest of our life together. I love you 💋❤️. It was a very magical and special day that I loved absolutely every second of it.”
Take a look at the beautiful couple’s wedding pictures below:
