Ritu Phogat, Arjan Bhullar bank on wrestling tricks to outfox MMA opponents | More sports News – Times of India

CHANDIGARH: Ritu Phogat has no qualms of switching over to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) at such a young age despite two of her family members, cousin Vinesh Phogat and brother-in-law Bajrang Punia being two of India’s main medal contenders in wrestling at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Gearing up for her ONE: Dangal against the seasoned Vietnamese-American fighter Bi Nguyen at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday, the 27-year-old said she doesn’t miss being a wrestler anymore but is excited to watch Vinesh and Bajrang competing in Tokyo.
Her eldest sister Geeta Phogat recently returned to train, while Vinesh and Bajrang are busy fine tuning themselves ahead of the showpiece event in the Japanese capital in July. Seeing all these, does Ritu ever plan a return to amateur wrestling?
“I made this choice of switching over to MMA, and I think I made the right one. Wrestling will forever be close to my heart with all my family earning a name from it. But I wanted to explore myself in some other sport, where I could use my basics of wrestling and MMA is the only sport which makes a wrestler feel like being in his/her own zone,” Ritu told TOI during a virtual interaction.
“It feels great to have two of your family members competing at the Olympics. I wish them all the success in Tokyo,” added Ritu, the third daughter of veteran wrestling coach Mahavir Singh Phogat.

While Vinesh is the daughter of Mahavir’s younger brother Rajpal Phogat, Bajrang married Ritu’s younger sister and fellow wrestler Sangeeta Phogat.
On Saturday, the Haryana girl will be banking on those wrestling techniques against Bi Nguyen as she aims to maintain her unbeaten run in Singapore.
“I think that Bi’s weakness is that her wrestling is not as strong and so my strength will be her weakness. Because of my wrestling history, I should be able to take Bi down effectively and I should be able to finish her off,” hopes Ritu.
Ritu made her ONE Championship debut two years ago, and has since racked up an unblemished win-loss slate, defeating her first four opponents in impressive fashion. Meanwhile, Nguyen has had a rough go as of late. Ritu is confident she can continue her winning streak, and deal her Vietnamese-American foe another heartbreaking setback.
“Bi is a great fighter because she is more experienced. I have studied all her previous matches and her standing game has been extremely strong,” Ritu said.
“It will be a great watch for fans as it will allow them to find out if wrestling or striking gets the upper hand in this match,” she added.
While her main focus is on the bout, Ritu also has one eye on the devastating second wave of the Covid-19, back home. “It is difficult to be physically away from family during such a crisis, I keep talking to my family back home, thankfully everyone is safe and I can focus on my fight.”
“The situation in India is heart-wrenching to say the least. I stand with my countrymen during this time of grief with the hope that we will come out of the storm sooner and stronger than ever before. Let’s continue to be there for one another. I strongly believe that our unity will help us get through this,” she added.
In the main event, 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrestler Arjan Bhullar will be up against Filipino-American superstar Brandon Vera for the ONE heavyweight world title.
Bhullar, who has a 10-1 record in MMA so far, said he has been waiting for the face-off with Vera for a long time, and is confident that his wrestling tricks will help outfox the opponent. The other Indian athletes scheduled for action include Gurdarshan Mangat and Roshan Mainam.