“I’m not putting anything past Ritu” - Tiffany Teo ready for Ritu Phogat at atomweight

Former two-time ONE women’s strawweight world title challenger ‘No Chill’ Tiffany Teo is ready for whatever her next opponent brings into the circle.

The woman she’s up against is none other than Ritu ‘The Indian Tigress’ Phogat, a wrestling world champion. She’s also a 2021 ONE women’s atomweight world Grand Prix finalist who was formerly ranked in the atomweight top five.

Teo and Phogat throw down at ONE 161: Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai, which will happen at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and broadcasts live on September 29.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Tiffany Teo talked about Phogat’s sublime wrestling, but said her opponent lacks in a lot of major areas.

‘No Chill’ said:

“Maybe she would beat me in wrestling, but maybe not. We’ll never know. She’s a good wrestler and that’s what she does to almost all her opponents right? It’s not like she’s trying to knock them out or outstrike them. She just tries to close the distance to take them down. She has good wrestling, but there’s another component to the ground game which is jiu-jitsu.”

Indeed, Teo’s grappling skills are not to be overlooked.

But Ritu Phogat is so good at wrestling that there was a blockbuster movie made about her family in 2016 [Dangal], which raked in US $300 million and turned out to be the fifth highest grossing non-English movie in history, according to Forbes.

Tiffany Teo isn’t taking Phogat lightly, despite being supremely confident of getting her hand raised in victory when all is said and done:

“I’m not putting anything past Ritu. As I’ve mentioned, every fight, she has been improving. So I’m sure that after that loss, she went back and she realized that she probably has to work more on her jiu-jitsu defense or attacks. I’m ready for all the different aspects that she might be bringing to me.”

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Tiffany Teo isn’t worried about Ritu Phogat’s style

Ever the confident fighter, Tiffany Teo is certain she will get the win at ONE 161 by the end of the night and send a message to the rest of the atomweight division that there’s a new sheriff in town.

While Phogat is no doubt a dangerous foe, Teo says there’s only one aspect of ‘The Indian Tigress’ game that she has to be wary of. She told ONE Championship:

“I think wrestling is the only advantage she has, to be honest. I mean, that’s the only thing she can do, based on the fights that I’ve watched. I don’t see her trying to strike with her opponent. I think on the ground is where she’s more confident, right?”