Denice Zamboanga becomes first Filipina MMA champion in ONE Championship history after masterclass of a performance at ONE Fight Night 27.
After five years, Denice Zamboanga is finally a champion.
Zamboanga claimed the interim ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship after a complete masterclass over Alyono Rassohyna, stopping her foe via second-round TKO at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok on Saturday morning.
After numerous setbacks to her bid to the ONE title, despite being named top contender for the belt since 2020, Zamboanga realized her dream to become the first-ever Filipina MMA champion in the Singapore-based promotion.
Albeit in an interim status, Zamboanga cemented her status as one of the elite athletes in ONE Championship and is now in line to face good pal Stamp Fairtex for a title unification bout sometime in the future.
Stamp is currently recovering from an injury that sidelined her before she was set to face Zamboanga in a title defense last year.
Against Rassohyna, Zamboanga displayed her elite conditioning as her foe hardly could make a difference.
From the get-go, the Quezon City native used her superior reach to deliver blows to the head and the body. Then, whenever Rassohyna tried to go for the takedown, Zamboanga flexed her defense and ended up with the control.
That’s exactly how it ended as well when Zamboanga used her ground and pound coming off of a defensive move after Rassohyna took a leg.
Zamboanga punished Rassohyna with thunderous hands and elbows until the official had seen enough and stopped the fight.
Immediately, Zamboanga broke down in tears after the victory.
“I’m speechless. First of all, I wouldn’t be here without my Lord, Jesus Christ… I’ve been aiming for this for all these years,” she said in her post-fight event in the ring.
She also shared a moment with Fairtex with their two belts, where the Thai athlete was also seen emotional for her friend's success.
Zamboanga’s victory thus made it two-for-two for Filipinas in weekend action after Islay Bomogao also took the win in ONE Friday Fights 93 against China’s Ran Longshu via unanimous decision.