Denice Zamboanga applauds Noelle Grandjean's valiant effort at ONE 167: "My opponent wasn't an easy fight"
Denice Zamboanga voiced her respect for Noelle Grandjean's performance in their recent fight at ONE 167. On June 7, the No. 2-ranked divisional contender fought Grandjean, a short-notice opponent, after Stamp Fairtex pulled out of their scheduled main event with an injury just three weeks out of the show.
'The Menace' showcased her well-rounded skills and dominated most of the three-round matchup before getting her hand raised by unanimous decision.
Following her impressive performance at ONE 167, Zamboanga joined Nicolas Atkin of Sportskeeda for a post-fight interview. The Filipino superstar took a moment to acknowledge Grandjean's efforts:
"It's a bit hard because my opponent wasn't an easy fight for me. But yeah, the game plan and all was different."
ONE 167 featured several entertaining matchups, including Tawanchai vs. Jo Nattawut II, Rodtang vs. Denis Puric, Denice Zamboanga vs. Noelle Grandjean, and more.
The event's replay can be seen for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Watch Zamboanga's entire interview with Sportskeeda below:
What's next for Denice Zamboanga under the ONE Championship banner?
As previously mentioned, Denice Zamboanga was scheduled to fight in the ONE 167 main event against Stamp Fairtex for the latter's women's atomweight MMA world title.
Unfortunately, Stamp suffered a torn meniscus and was forced to pull out of the matchup against her close friend and former training partner just weeks away from the contest.
Zamboanga solidified herself as the number-one contender to Stamp's throne by taking out Noelle Grandjean. Therefore, 'The Menace' will likely wait for her title shot against the Thai superstar to be rescheduled, potentially later this year.
Firstly, Stamp is focused on potentially fighting on Sept. 6 in the ONE 168 main event.
The reigning ONE women's atomweight queen hopes to become a two-division world champion by taking out Xiong Jing Nan, the ONE women's strawweight MMA world champion.
While there hasn't been any news about her return, the three-sport superstar is currently undergoing physical therapy to speed up her return to the global stage.
ONE 168 will represent the promotion's second on-ground showcase in North America.
The highly-anticipated event featuring three world title fights goes down inside the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, with tickets available for purchase here.