ONE Championship has added an atomweight MMA clash between Ayaka Miura and Ritu Phogat to its ONE 171: Qatar card on February 20.
Miura vs Phogat is the latest matchup in what is shaping up to be an action-packed event on the martial arts organization’s return to Qatar’s Lusail Sports Arena.
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Miura, who recently moved to atomweight from strawweight, is a grappling specialist who has scored eight career wins from a total of fourteen by way of scarf-hold Americana – which has become known as the “Ayaka Lock”
Since moving to atomweight, the 34-year-old Japanese star beat Macarena Aragon via first-round submission in November and Itsuki Hirata via unanimous decision. She had earlier defeated Meng Bo via submission at strawweight.
Now, riding a three-win-streak, Ayaka knows a win in Qatar could potentially earn her a world title shot against the ONE Atomweight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex.
Meanwhile, Phogat is keen to recover from a recent slump in form which has seen her lose her two most recent bouts.
Despite the defeats, the 30-year-old Indian fighter – who participated in her last promotional fight in September 2022 – owns a 7-3 record with impressive wins against the likes of Jenelyn Olsim and Meng Bo. In 2021, she reached the Atomweight Mixed Martial Arts World Grand Prix Final in which she lost to current titleholder Stamp.
ONE 171: Qatar is headlined by a ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing world championship bout between titleholder Jonathan Haggerty and Chinese veteran Wei Rui while ONE Strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio and interim champion Jarred Brooks aim to unify the world title and settle the score in their third battle.
The show also features the return of Turkey’s Dagi Arslanaliev and Croatia’s Roberto Soldic who will face each other in a welterweight MMA bout.
Also, the next contender for the featherweight MMA world championship could be decided as Shamil Gasanov and Martin Nguyen, and former ONE Bantamweight MMA world champion Bibiano Fernandes aims to end his career on a high when he faces Kevin Belingon in a clash of veterans.
