The circumstances of Ritu Phogat's second mixed martial arts bout at One Championship against Taiwan's Wu Chiao Chen were not the most ideal considering the contest was held in an empty Singapore Indoor stadium owing to fears of the coronavirus outbreak in the City-state. There wasn't much to complain about the bout itself for Phogat, who moved to 2-0 (two wins and no losses) with a lopsided unanimous decision victory over her opponent, who slipped to 2-2.
Even though this was only her second professional MMA bout, the 25-year-old Indian, who fights in the atomweight division, was the clear favourite against her 36-year-old opponent. Chiao had an 8-0 record as an amateur in MMA and has been a former JJIF Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship gold medallist, but with only a minor edge in experience in professional MMA bouts, was far older and far less accomplished than Phogat, a silver medalist at the U-23 Wrestling world championships.
The Taiwanese fighter was taken down early in each of the three five-minute rounds and spent the bulk of the contest fighting off her back. Phogat controlled each of the three rounds by using her wrestling skills as much as physical strength to force early takedowns and kept her opponent pinned to the ground. Chiao tried hard to challenge the Indian in the second round but Phogat proved too strong in the grappling exchanges and did not give her opponent any chance to defend. The final round saw the Indian at her aggressive best as she landed some heavy shots, leaving the judges without a very difficult decision to make.
At least in the manner of Phogat forcing early takedowns and then mounting her opponent, this wasn't very different from her MMA debut against Naa Kee Him in Beijing in November last year. But while Phogat was able to strike out her opponent in that contest, Chen proved to be a far more durable contender. Phogat was unable to land any decisive strike standing up, which would be one area she would be looking to improve especially since she had promised a first-round knock out of Chiao in the build-up. She was also unable to find good positions even while having her opponent on the ground. Neither of this is surprising considering she's still a relative novice in her striking and Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills.
Phogat will have time to improve on those areas as she progresses in her career. For the moment, the Indian was grateful to get additional time on the canvas, which she says will help her towards her ultimate goal - the ONE Championship title. "Winning my second match at ONE Championship has been a very good feeling and my confidence level has been boosted further," Phogat said after her win.