Olympic Bronze Medalist and Judoka, Monkhbatyn Urantsetseg, to transition to MMA
Perhaps following in the footsteps of Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison, Mongolia’s Olympic medaling judoka, Monkhbatyn Urantsetseg, announced her retirement from judo and intends to transition on MMA. The 31-year-old announced the decision yesterday. Urantsetseg won bronze in Tokyo this past summer at the 48 kilogram weight.
Monkhbatyn Urantsetseg is a well accomplished judoka in her own right. She brings some things to the table that both Harrison and Rousey did not. In 2013, Urantsetseg won a Judo World Championship. She was the first ever female World Champion in judo for her home country of Mongolia. Urantsetseg has been consistently improving. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, she lost in the quarterfinals. She came back in 2016 and made it to the bronze medal match and was defeated by Japan’s Ami Kondo. But her time for glory would come in 2020 as she finally captured the Olympic medal, winning bronze in Tokyo.
In addition to judo, Urantsetseg is also a two-time world champion in Sambo which she won in 2010 and 2014 respectively. Her transition from judo and Sambo seems like a natural move and Urantsetseg could do well in ONE Championship’s atomweight division.
Monkhbatyn Urantsetseg and The Judo Connection
Monkhbatyn Urantsetseg transitioning over to MMA follows in the footsteps of megastar Ronda Rousey and budding icon Kayla Harrison. Rousey won silver in the 2007 World Championships in judo and took home bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Her career in MMA was the first real breakthrough for women’s fighting in mainstream becoming a pay per view megastar. After retiring from fighting, of course, Rousey transitioned to pro-wrestling.
Kayla Harrison is the most accomplished of the three judoka mentioned. Unlike Urantsetseg and Rousey, Harrison took home the gold medal in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, making her not only elite in the sport of judo, but a hot commodity on the MMA market as well. She is currently negotiating a new contract on where she will sign next which is potentially the PFL and the UFC.
Monkhbatyn Urantsetseg will make her transition to MMA this year. Stay posted to My MMA News for all the latest surrounding new MMA prospects, Olympic judo and more. Thanks for reading.
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In addition to covering news for bare knuckle boxing, Blaine Henry, the author, also analyzes fights from all combat sports across the globe.
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