By:  | May 23, 2022 8:45 am

Ritu Phogat has taken to Instagram to share an inspirational message with her female followers. The Indian, who has been training in Mumbai, told them to ‘be a queen’:

Simple but powerful

Phogat’s message was simple but powerful,

“As women, we have superpowers. We are sisters. We are healers. We are mothers. We are goddess warriors.”

Phogat is definitely a good example of a warrior. Her 6-2 record it testament to how much the Indian has achieved in MMA and she was also a wrestling champion before switching codes.

Movies have been made about her and her sisters and Phogat is definitely flying the flag for female MMA fighters from India. While others have struggled on the international stage she has really made a name for herself with ONE Championship.

Cutting edge

Last Friday Zeba Bano and Asha Roka were both submitted in the opening round at ONE 157. Phogat is also coming off a defeat but it was in the final of the atomweight Grand Prix and she had beaten two separate opponents to get there.

That submission loss to Stamp Fairtex saw her somewhat harshly removed from the top five. Two fighters who were eliminated from the Grand Prix in the quarter finals are ranked ahead of her for some reason.

Phogat has an advantage over other Indian fighters because she has a base in MMA which has been proven to give mixed martial artists a very solid foundation for success. She also has access to cutting edge training techniques being based at Evolve MMA in Singapore.

Indian opponents

Last Friday Wondergirl Fairtex and Alyse Anderson both scored wins at the expense of the aforementioned Indians. Both could be potential future opponents for Phogat.

Ahead of the Indian in the rankings are Stamp Fairtex, Seo Hee Ham, Denice Zamboanga, Alyona Rassohyna and Jihin Radzuan. She is coming off a submission loss to the Thai fighter in the atomweight Grand Prix final.

Meanwhile Ham is likely to challenge for the title next after scoring back to back decision wins over Denice Zamboanga. But the other three names on the list could all be potential opponents for Phogat.

Itsuki Hirata, who was originally scheduled to face Phogat in the semi finals, is also in need of a fight. That is a match that might make sense given that it was only cancelled at the very last minute.

In the meantime Phogat remains an inspirational figure for women all over India and beyond. Her quest to become queen of the atomweight division is likely to resume in the coming months.