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Asha Roka determined to show better ground game at ONE X
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(Courtesy of ONE Championship)
After a two-year hiatus, Asha Roka is finally returning to the Circle.
The "Knockout Queen" will take on Alyse Anderson in an atomweight mixed martial arts bout at ONE X on Saturday, March 26.
It's been a long time coming for the Indian national boxing champion, who earned her moniker from four first-round finishes. Now, she's eager to showcase her powerful punching abilities once again at the organization's 10-year anniversary show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“I’m really excited and looking forward to the fight, as this is my first fight after two years,” Roka told ONE Championship.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 ONE X kicks off with an EPIC first card, featuring a grappling super-match and the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Final! 🥋🥊 #ONEX #ONELightsOut pic.twitter.com/x7O02weXP9
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) March 11, 2022
The 23-year-old athlete is popular in her home country, initially for her boxing abilities and then for her prowess in mixed martial arts (MMA). Most notably, she made headlines with her sensational stoppage of Anjela Pink just 9 seconds into their 2017 bout.
She then made her ONE Championship debut at ONE: Dreams Of Gold in August 2019 against none other than two-sport world champion Stamp Fairtex, in a contest that saw Roka give a strong effort before acceding defeat in a third-round submission.
Read also: Thai kickboxer Capitan to defend bantamweight world title against Hiroki Akimoto at ONE X
The Indian athlete has taken some time to reflect on past setbacks, hopeful that her time away will help fix her weaknesses ahead of the matchup with Anderson.
“I watched my old fights and realized that I must work a lot on my ground game. I am working on [it] for this fight,” she said.
Taking time off might discourage some competitors, but Roka took the first opportunity she could to reenter the gym.
“It’s tough to step into the Circle after a huge gap because we must get ready according to the upcoming fight. The gyms were closed all this while, and so I was not able to train. This leads to uncertainty, and it can demotivate any athlete,” she recounted. “As soon as the gym opened, I started my training, and light now it’s going really well.”
The Roka-Anderson bout is the first at ONE X, a massive three-part bonanza celebrating the organization’s 10 years of contributing to martial arts.
Watch ONE X on March 26, 2022 at watch.onefc.com, and be sure to subscribe to ONE Championship on YouTube!
This article is published in collaboration with ONE Championship
