Denice Zamboanga's shot at a ONE world championship has been a long time coming, and Stamp Fairtex believes that the Filipina fighter's got next.
Reigning ONE Atomweight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex is siding with her good friend and #2-ranked Denice Zamboanga when it comes to picking the next contender for a shot at gold.
Top contender Ham Seo Hee made waves a few weeks ago when she questioned the Filipina, alongside Alyona Rassohyna, who were scheduled to compete for the interim World Title at ONE Fight Night 25 before Zamboanga’s injury cancelled that fight altogether.
Ham believes she should be the one who should be fighting for the belt, given that she owns wins over the two ladies. While Stamp sees Ham’s point, the three-sport queen believes she already had her shot at gold and missed.
“I saw [Ham Seo Hee's] Instagram post. I agree with some of Ham's points, but I also agree with some of the points from Denice. Because [Ham] already had the chance to fight with me already, there has to be a next one to have a chance to fight with me,” Stamp told Sportskeeda.
Zamboanga’s bid for MMA supremacy has been a long time coming if one would look at it.
As early as 2020, she’s already been positioned to contend for the ONE Atomweight MMA World Title, but the pandemic and then-champion Angela Lee’s pregnancy prolonged her wait.
With Lee on the sidelines, the promotion started a ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Grand Prix Championship to keep the division moving, and Zamboanga got surprisingly booted out of the first round after a controversial decision loss to Ham.
Another loss to Ham, this time in much clearer fashion, sent Denice to the back of the line but the Filipina slowly crept her way back to relevance.
Wins over Lin Heqin and Julie Mezabarba allowed her to get another shot at the world title, this time held by her good friend in Stamp, but as fate would have it, the Thai tore her meniscus while preparing for Zamboanga.
The Filipina decided to stay active when she put her status on the line against Noelle Grandjean – a match she easily hurdled to prove that she truly deserves a shot at gold next.
And while she’s still in the process of recovering from a hamstring injury herself, Zamboanga vows to take what she believes is rightfully hers in her return.
“I’m ready to prove myself again. I won’t let this chance slip through my fingers,” Zamboanga said.