Tiffany Teo battled through injury to make her way back to ONE circle

Tiffany Teo says she is feeling a hundred per cent

Singapore’s Tiffany “No Chill” Teo is feeling a hundred percent after more than a year of absence from the ONE Circle. She was last seen taking down Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend and top strawweight Michelle Nicolini.

As Teo makes her return to the ONE Circle, fans are expecting another brilliant performance.

Japan’s Ayaka Miura will be Teo’s first taste of action since her last bout. The two will face each other on 28 February at ONE: KING OF THE JUNGLE live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Teo was in rehabilitation from a serious eye injury, but now she is completely fit to compete.

“It feels like [it was] a really long way back to the Circle, but I’m healthy now and happy to finally be back competing again,” Teo said.

Teo was originally slated to return last November when she uncovered the abrupt and surprising revelation of the injury that could have ended her career.

“During the mandatory pre-match medical checkup, the eye doctor informed me that I had a small tear in my retina and advised me to go for corrective surgery immediately,” Teo said.

“It was just two to three weeks out and it was really a big blow, I had to halt my training and shift my focus to surgery and recovery.”

Teo has been in the Circle with some of her division’s toughest opponents. Yet she had never been as scared as she was when she faced the uncertainties and lack of knowledge about her condition.

“This was my first time with such an injury, and I didn’t know of anyone else who had gone through a similar situation that I could turn to for advice,” Teo said.

“I had no idea what to expect during the surgery, how long the recovery would take. I was a little depressed. I had to take a step back to re-evaluate my options and approach this situation step by step.”

It was a dark time for Teo who could not even train during the rehabilitation process.

“The main thing I learned was to trust the process – especially when you face certain obstacles and you can’t really tell what the next step is, you can get sidetracked from your end goal,” Teo said.

“You have to remind yourself of your end goal, trust the process and keep moving forward one step at a time.”