“I’m better than her everywhere” - Tiffany Teo confident she will beat Ritu Phogat

Tiffany Teo may be heading into a new weight class, but she’s confident she can pass her first test against Ritu Phogat at ONE 161. The former ONE women’s strawweight world title contender will make her atomweight debut against Phogat at ONE 161: Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai on September 29 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Teo expressed her confidence in her coming match and that she’s better than Phogat in every aspect of mixed martial arts:

“Because I’m better than her everywhere. I’m better than her in terms of striking, I’m better than her on the ground, and I just have more tools than she has. She’s gritty, but I’m also very gritty, so I feel like if you put everything together, I have the upper hand.”

Tiffany Teo has been with ONE Championship since 2016 and has seen her fair share of success inside the circle. As well-rounded of a fighter as anyone, Teo holds seven wins in the promotion, with four ending in a finish. The Singaporean star combines aggressive striking and heavy grappling during her matches, allowing her to take three submission wins and one knockout victory inside the circle.

Her last match at strawweight saw her submit Chinese star Meng Bo with a rear naked choke in the second round of their match at ONE: Heavy Hitters this past January in Singapore. Phogat is considered among the best wrestlers on the planet, and she used her grind-out style of offense to notch seven wins in ONE Championship.

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Tiffany Teo believes she’s improved as a fighter following her loss to Xiong Jing Nan

While losing is a hard pill to swallow, Tiffany Teo said her two losses to ONE women’s strawweight world titleholder Xiong Jing Nan were two of the most important matches in terms of her development as a fighter.

In the same ONE Championship interview, Teo said her first loss to Xiong pushed her to become a better fighter. She added that their second bout at ONE: Inside the Matrix in October 2020 was also the toughest fight she’s been in:

“I believe that from my past few fights, especially after that fight with Xiong, everyone could see the improvements I’ve made as a fighter over the years in different disciplines in MMA. The next time I fought Xiong, I lost a decision again, but I felt that it was a really close fight. I do think that it was one of the toughest fights Xiong has had in her career, though I’m not sure if she would agree with me on that,” said Tiffany Teo.