Commonwealth Wrestling champion and Asian Championships bronze medallist Ritu Phogat has decided to give up her wrestling career for one in Mixed Martial Arts, she revealed on Monday, 25 February.
Daughter of wrestling coach Mahavir Phogat and sister of the famous Phogat sisters, 24-year-old Ritu said her dream is to become “India's first-ever World Champion in mixed martial arts”.
Phogat will begin her MMA career with Singapore-based Evolve fight team. In a post on a social media, she wrote, “I am excited to have moved to Singapore to begin my new journey in mixed martial arts as a member of the EVOLVE Fight Team. I look forward to the challenge of learning the various martial arts and broadening my skill set as a mixed martial artist. I have a dream of becoming India's first ever World Champion in mixed martial arts and can't wait to represent India on the global stage and make the nation proud."
Ritu, who competed in the same category (48 kg) as her sister Vinesh, had not informed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) about her move, according to a Times of India report. And citing an injuiry, she had withdrawn her name from the senior women’s national wrestling camp just this month.
"Everyone in our family is a wrestler. People have expectations since I'm Geeta and Babita's sister. I want to fulfill their expectations and hopes, not on the mat but inside a cage,” Ritu told TOI.
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