“The meta is so different” - Tiffany Teo shares the difference between MMA grappling and straight grappling 

Tiffany Teo has been on a remarkable tear in ONE Championship this year. 'No Chill' has compiled back-to-back submission wins over wily competitors Meng Bo and Ritu Phogat. The latter was Teo's first bout at atomweight.

The Singaporean slugger has come a long way - from being a national boxing champion, she is now a full-blown mixed martial artist. Her submission win over Meng and Phogat alone shows her remarkable growth in the grappling arts.

Since ONE also showcases strict submission grappling matches alongside MMA, Muay Thai, and kickboxing, Teo has been asked if she's willing to cross over at some point. In an interview with ONE Championship, Tiffany Teo was asked if she was willing to do a submission grappling match, to which she replied:

"The thing with grappling, even though it’s part of MMA, the meta is so different. With MMA, you can use strikes. I feel like with pure grappling, you kind of learn some bad habits for MMA, especially when you’re in a bad position on your back or on half-guard. You’re safe in grappling because no one’s throwing an elbow at you, but in MMA, you’re getting punished right there."

Teo concluded with:

"So i feel like, with a pure grappling ruleset, you pick up bad habits in that sense, since you don’t have to scramble, or you get too comfortable in certain positions. So as of now, I’m just staying focused on MMA and who knows? Maybe after I get the belt, I’d be more open to other challenges."

True words by 'No Chill'. A simple position like the half-guard can pose many advantages and disadvantages depending on whether you're doing MMA or strict submission grappling.

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Tiffany Teo submits wrestling specialist Ritu Phogat at ONE 161

Tiffany Teo's point about the difference between MMA grappling and strict grappling was made resoundingly clear by her performance at ONE 161. 'No Chill' debuted in the atomweight division by dominating and submitting world-class grappler Ritu 'The Indian Tigress' Phogat in the opening round.

Teo didn't have much of a problem repelling the takedown attempts of the former wrestling world champion. After reversing a clinch position, Teo used her powerful jiujitsu to relentlessly attack with submissions from the back.

From a wrestling ride position, 'No Chill' blasted 'The Indian Tigress' with debilitating knee strikes on the ground:

Despite cutting weight and having to fight 10 pounds lower than she's used to, Teo handily grappled the ground specialist. The strikes on the ground truly helped with her grappling arsenal. In her post-fight interview, Teo spoke about how she felt fighting at a lower weight class:

“The first thing is the diet. I had to diet a lot to make this atomweight. Thankfully I had help from a professional nutritionist, he’s based in the US. John Sasson helped me a lot [in] making this weight at atomweight. A huge difference I noticed was my speed. I felt like I was a lot faster at a lower weight class compared to when I was fighting at strawweight.”