One Championship eyeing Mumbai bout in '2nd half of 2020'  

Chief Commercial Officer of ONE Championship Hari Vijayarajan said that the mixed martial arts stable is considering a match in India in the second half of 2020. Vijayarajan said that while details of the event will be disclosed later, Mumbai is being considered as the venue.

"We are very excited about India. At the moment we are in conversation with Star. We are planning to bring a match to India, in the second half of the year. It might be in Mumbai. We will announce the details soon," Vijayarajan said on Wednesday at Ritu Phogat's first open workout ahead of her second MMA bout at the One: King of the Jungle event in Singapore on February 28.

Vijayarajan said that Ritu's foray into MMA will help increase the popularity of the sport in India.

"With a rich history of contact sports, like kabaddi and wrestling, as well as the passion points and national pride that Indian heroes ignite in fans, the ONE Championship platform will provide athletes like Ritu Phogat an opportunity to represent India on the global stage.

"It will increase the footprint of martial arts in the country. ONE Championship is a celebration of the true Asian values of integrity, humility, courage, discipline, honour, respect, and compassion, and our storytelling around heroes like Ritu will, we hope, inspire millions of Indians to become the best version of themselves," he said.

Ritu will be facing Chinese Taipei's Wu Chiao Chen in the Atomweight bout of the One: King of the Jungle.-IANS