Denice Zamboanga on hardships training in Thailand: “I always kept in my mind that this is for my family”
Denice Zamboanga focused on her motivations while enduring difficult moments in training.
Zamboanga, a women's atomweight MMA fighter from the Philippines, has dedicated her life to martial arts. The ONE Championship affiliate has endured years of training to become a potential undisputed world champion.
'The Menace' recently did an interview with Atleta Filipina and had this to say about her motivations while training:
"Every time I trained, I always kept in my mind that this is for my family, this is for my dream, and also for God. I always have faith that the Lord has plans for me, for all of the sacrifices I made in my life."
Denice Zamboanga made her ONE Championship debut in December 2019. She started with three consecutive wins before suffering back-to-back losses against Ham Seo Hee, her only defeats in the promotion.
Zamboanga has since won four consecutive fights, setting up an opportunity to become the undisputed ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion.
Watch Zamboanga's entire interview with Atleta Filipina below:
Denice Zamboanga looks to become undisputed world champion in next fight
In June 2024, Denice Zamboanga was supposed to challenge Stamp Fairtex, her close friend and former training partner, for the women's atomweight MMA world title at ONE 167.
Stamp ended up tearing her MCL while training, forcing her to pull out of the matchup and remain sidelined for 2024.
Zamboanga stayed active and defeated Noelle Grandjean and Aloyona Rassohyna. The Filipino superstar's latest bout against Rassohyna was for the ONE interim women's atomweight MMA world title.
Stamp has overcome her significant injury and plans to regain undisputed world champion status in the division. On August 1, Stamp and Zamboanga will headline ONE 173 in North America to eliminate the need for an interim title holder.
Stamp and Zamboanga became friends while being primary training partners at Fairtex Training Center in Thailand. Zamboanga has since changed gyms.
ONE 173 will take place inside the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States. The upcoming event also features an action-packed bantamweight Muay Thai bout between Liam Harrison and Soe Lin Oo.
Watch Zamboanga's title-winning finish against Rassohyna below: