Denice Zamboanga pleased to feature on stacked ONE 167 despite switch of opponent: “I’m grateful”
Second-ranked ONE Championship women's atomweight MMA contender 'The Menace' Denice Zamboanga of the Philippines is super grateful she was still able to compete at ONE 167 last weekend, even after original opponent Stamp Fairtex pulled out of their main event bout last minute due to injury.
Stamp, the reigning ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion, is expected to be out for months due to a torn meniscus she suffered in training.
Zamboanga ended up facing French-Thai star 'Lil' Monkey' Noelle Grandjean at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut on Prime Video.
The event took place live from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand last Saturday, June 8th.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post in a post-fight interview, Zamboanga expressed gratitude.
'The Menace' said:
"Going back to the match, I was supposed to fight for the championship. But a few weeks after, they got me a replacement with Noelle. But yeah, I’ve been preparing for that fight for the past six months, but I’m grateful that my little bit of change of game plan helped me become successful."
If you missed any of the action, fans in the United States and Canada can catch a replay of ONE 167 on-demand via Amazon Prime Video.
What's next for Denice Zamboanga?
With her victory over Noelle Grandjean at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut II on Prime Video, 'The Menace' Denice Zamboanga secures her no.2 ranking in the atomweight MMA division, and likely her world title shot against ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion Stamp Fairtex.
Zamboanga credits her victory over Grandjean to careful planning due to the sudden opponent change.
The Filipina standout said:
"We changed a lot of game plan because I was supposed to fight a lot of striking but suddenly I ended up fighting a judo black belt. So there was a lot of planning involved in this fight."
Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates on Denice Zamboanga's next fight.