JENELYN Olsim fell short in her bid to progress to the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix Finals, bowing to Ritu Phogat via unanimous decision at ONE: NextGen on Friday night in Singapore.
The Filipina fighter, who took the fight on four days' notice to replace the injured Itsuki Hirata, was unable to cope with her Indian foe's wrestling as Phogat controlled the match and took the Filipina to the ground.
Phogat's strength was in full display, slamming Olsim at the start of the second round, while also taking her patented side control in round three before delivering a handful of lethal knees as the semifinal bout wore on.
Late rally falls short
Olsim staged a late rally and attempted one final triangle choke, but failed to score the submission win before Phogat got one last ground and pound in that action-packed final minute.
The Team Lakay rising star had won her last two matches but tasted her first defeat in the women's atomweight class to drop to a 5-3 card.
She was initially set to face Jihin Radzuan of Malaysia in the taped ONE: NextGen II card before taking this match.
Meanwhile, Phogat improved to 7-1 after winning her last three matches.
She now turns her attention to the final where she will face Stamp Fairtex, who beat alternate Julie Mezabarba via unanimous decision in their semifinal duel.
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