"She made the right decision" - Stamp says it was the best choice for Denice Zamboanga to leave Fairtex
Reigning ONE atomweight MMA world champion Stamp Fairtex thinks that her former teammate and number two-ranked divisional contender Denice Zamboanga made the correct call when she left the Fairtex Training Center.
Stamp revealed this during her interview with The MMA Superfan's YouTube channel, and the Thai combat sports superstar lauded Zamboanga for the bold move by saying:
"I think to pursue her goal and her dream of becoming the first Filipino world champion, I think she made the right decision to leave Fairtex because if she didn't, we wouldn't be able to face each other if she's still here."
Before returning to the Philippines, the three-sport queen and Zamboanga trained together in Bangkok, Thailand, along with another atomweight contender, Jihin Radzuan.
The 26-year-old is coming off her historic victory at ONE Fight Night 14 in September 2023, where she scored a third-round TKO finish of Ham Seo Hee to be the first athlete in ONE Championship to capture three world titles in three different sports.
Meanwhile, the Filipina challenger earned her first crack at the championship through her two-fight win streak, beating Lin Heqin in December 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5 and Julie Mezabarba in April 2023 at ONE Fight Night 9.
Stamp wants to regain the ONE Muay Thai and kickboxing world titles after MMA triumph
Although she became the first fighter in the world's largest martial arts organization to win all three world titles in kickboxing, Muay Thai, and MMA, Stamp hinted at the possibility of holding all three of them simultaneously.
The striking maestra, though, would need to go through and beat the current rulers of the division, Allycia Hellen Rodrigues and Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom, to realize her dream of achieveing the momentous feat.
ONE 167 is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America on June 7.