‘Finish This Fight’ – Ritu Phogat Returns With A Point To Prove Against Itsuki Hirata At ONE SAMURAI 1

Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat has learned from her losses, rebuilt herself from the ground up, and is ready to remind the women’s atomweight MMA division exactly what she is capable of. The 31-year-old takes on Japanese star Itsuki “Android 18” Hirata in an atomweight MMA matchup at ONE SAMURAI 1 on Wednesday, April 29, broadcasting live on pay-per-view from Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. View this post on Instagram Phogat’s journey to this moment has been anything but straightforward.

The Indian wrestling star transitioned to MMA and took the atomweight division by storm, winning seven of her first eight professional fights on the strength of impressive takedowns, relentless ground-and-pound, and a wrestler’s instinct for controlling where the fight goes. Then came a run of consecutive losses that tested her in ways her decorated wrestling career never had. She stepped away from competition to focus on family and motherhood, and when she returned to competition in 2025, Phogat suffered a first-round submission loss to Ayaka “Zombie” Miura .

She looks back on that most recent outing not with regret, but with the perspective of someone who extracted every lesson it had to offer: “My last fight came after a long break and after becoming a mother. It was quite a good experience and I learned a lot from that fight. ” View this post on Instagram Every defeat, particularly the three consecutive submission losses, pointed to a specific area that demanded attention, and “The Indian Tigress” has spent considerable time addressing it head-on.

Now, she is confident the results will speak for themselves on April 29. Phogat said: “In my last three matches, the losses have come by submission, so I needed to work more on my grappling. I have improved my grappling considerably.