Internationally renowned sports IP – ONE Championship will bring ONE167 to ONE on 8 June. Women's Atomweight World Champion Stamp Fairtex will defend her first mixed martial arts title against divisional No. 2-ranked Denice Zamboanga of the Philippines. Stamp's next title bout is also booked early, as she moves up to strawweight at ONE 168 at the Ball Arena in Colorado on 7 September to challenge Strawweight World Champion Xiong "The Panda" Xiong Jing Nan from Shandong, China. Determining two championship fights in one go, spanning two divisions, with only three months between the two bouts, shows Stamp's confidence in his own strength.
Stamp was originally scheduled to face Zamboanga at ONE 166 on 1 March, but after a three-month postponement, the two met at ONE 167. In last year's ONE: Pinnacle Series 14 Women's Atomweight World Title, Stamp displayed a powerful striking power and knocked out South Korean veteran Ham Seo Hee in the third round at 1:04 to become the first "triple crown" to win three World Titles in kickboxing, Muay Thai, and mixed martial arts. She is poised to continue cementing her dominance of the atomweight division in 2024.
Zamboanga is probably the most familiar challenger to Stamp, with whom she trained at Fairtex and has a strong friendship as training partners. Zamboanga has since left Fairtex because of the same division, but the experience of training with Stamp has given her a lot of gains. "It's fun for me to train with Stamp. She trains hard, like a beast, and is always focused. Zamboanga has fought seven fights in ONE Championship and has only lost to Ham Seo Hee. She then defeated China's Lin Heqin and Brazil's Julie Mezabarba with a sharp combination to snap a back-to-back victory and return to the title challenger.
Stamp doesn't think the camaraderie with Zamboanga will be an obstacle in this match. "I have to leave friendship behind because we're all professional fighters and we have to fight hard, Zamboanga wants my belt, I want to defend it, I want to defend it, I want to protect it, friendship is something outside of the ring. I will do whatever it takes to win. ”
Stamp believes that Zamboanga is still improving after leaving Fairtex. "I think Zamboanga has been improving over the last few years and I have to be careful, she has a different style than I did when I trained, and I have to re-study her and be fully prepared. "Zamboanga has impressed in the past with his ferocious punches, fighting spirit and strong physique. Stamp, on the other hand, is known for her Muay Thai skills, but she's also gaining submission ability on the ground and becoming more and more versatile.
Both friends are looking forward to giving it their all and putting on a good game. Stamp has plenty of motivation to go for the win, because if she successfully defends her title, she's ready to do something that former Atomweight World Champion Angela "Unstoppable" Lee didn't do – defeat Xiong Jing Nan to become a two-division champion.