ONE Battleground II: Indian MMA Fighter Rahul Raju gets submission victory

13 August 2021

Indian MMA fighter Rahul Raju made his return to the ONE Championship circle today at ONE: Battleground II. Rahul went up against Otgonbaatar Nergui of Mongolia at the event in a Lightweight contest.

Rahul Raju started off on the backfoot as his takedown attempts were fended off successfully by Nergui. Nergui had the better outing in the first round but was slowing down in the opening minutes of the second round. Rahul managed to produce an excellent check to a low kick that was thrown by Nergui and even pointed to the leg of the Mongolian which proved to be the start of the ending sequence. Rahul landed a successful takedown right away and went on to submit Nergui with a rear-naked choke. After the win, an emotional Rahul said that he belongs in the ONE Championship. 

Raju had a standout 2019, as he finished both Richard “The Notorious” Corminal and Furqan “The Lion” Cheema with his patented rear-naked choke. But in the years to follow, “The Kerala Krusher” endured some tough luck in the Circle and saw his winning streak come to an end. He suffered two back-to-back defeats with the first one coming against Amir Khan when the second one came against Ahmed Mujtaba. 

Prior to the matchup, Rahul had revealed in an exclusive interview that he is indeed interested in a potential rematch with Ahmed Mujtaba as the India vs. Pakistan storyline will be good for the sport. You can check out the complete interview below. 

Nergui, meanwhile previously competed in ONE Warrior Series, where he submitted Shooto veteran Takuya Nagata with a guillotine choke. What do you think of the match which happened at ONE: Battleground II? Let us know in the comment section of the article below. 

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