Riski Umar Is Looking To Repeat The Feat And Defeat Egi Rozten In Jakarta

Indonesian strawweight Riski Umar is looking to double down on victory against a familiar opponent in ONE Championship.

Umar will face off against Egi Rozten on 22 September at ONE: CONQUEST OF HEROES in Jakarta in a rematch against the regional boxing champion.

The pair met at the same venue back in January at ONE: KINGS OF COURAGE when Rozten stepped in at short notice to face Umar and acquitted himself well.

Umar was made to battle hard, but was able to come through the contest victorious, using his Muay Thai skills to good effect against the pugilist as he stopped Rozten with 40 seconds to go in the opening round.

Now the duo is set to face off again, and Umar says he has been broadening his skill set to ensure he achieves a similar result in the rematch.

“I have prepared new techniques to confront Rozten for the second time. However, I cannot disclose much of these techniques,” he says.

“I will maintain distance since he is an aggressive boxer, and time my strikes perfectly. I will try to win with a combination of boxing and kicking, as well as knee and elbow strikes.

“Rozten has an advantage in boxing, but I have my Muay Thai and taekwondo skills at my disposal. I can use them to maintain distance and measure my strikes.”

Umar will head into the contest in encouraging form. In May he made his divisional debut as a strawweight against Doan Birawa at ONE: GRIT AND GLORY and claimed victory via rear-naked choke submission.

It was a great start to life at strawweight, but Umar admits there is plenty of room for improvement.

“Despite winning the fight, I know that I should be more careful in avoiding takedowns,” Umar explains.

“When attacking, I was still wide open to counterattacks, and it allowed my opponent to strike my weak points.

“I need to be more disciplined and train harder to keep winning. In this sense, I have to avoid mistakes and be more careful when striking, as well as going back to a defensive stance after I land my attacks.”

Umar has since switched his training camp from Bali MMA to Tiger Muay Thai, where he is working his striking with ONE Super Series competitor Matthew Semper and training with a host of new faces in a bid to improve his game.

“I simply believe this gym is perfect for me to improve my skills,” Umar explains.

“The training menu varies. It includes hill sprints, Muay Thai pad work, wrestling, grappling, and sparring.”

Buoyed by his stoppage win over his opponent, plus the knowledge that he is heading into the bout an improved athlete, Umar is heading into the contest confident and motivated to pick up another victory as he looks to climb the ONE strawweight ladder.

“I am always motivated to win,” he states.

“More victories mean better records and a clear path towards a World Title shot one day.”