Denice Zamboanga recalls lengthy path to atomweight crown, maintains hope that fight vs Stamp will materialize

The Philippines' first-ever female MMA world champion, Denice Zamboanga, reflected on her tough journey that led to world championship glory in ONE Championship.

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Denice Zamboanga, who captured the interim gold in January this year, became the undisputed ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion recently after Stamp decided to relinquish the belt as part of ongoing rehabilitation.

While it wasn't the way she had hoped to attain the coveted 26 pounds of gold, 'The Menace' did her bit to work her way to the interim crown and position herself as the leading force in the stacked division.

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During an online exchange with Carlo Perruzza, the 28-year-old martial artist dissected her long road to the world title. Denice Zamboanga shared:

"At first, like I think 2019 - I'm not sure like 2019 - ONE Championship announced that I'm going to fight for the championship, which was supposed to be against Angela Lee. That time she's the champion."

She further added:

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"And then there's a delay coming into the championship, then there's a grand prix, and then you know there's a lot of process on that. There's been a lot of delay since 2019."

Lee took time off to focus on starting her family during that period. Shortly after, the promotion unveiled that eight of the division's best talent will go toe-to-toe in a ONE Women's Atomweight MMA World Grand Prix Championship to determine the rightful contender to challenge Lee when she returns.

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This marked another chance for Denice Zamboanga to strengthen her grip as the leading contender. Unfortunately, Ham Seo Hee edged her in the quarterfinals via a split decision to cut her dreams short.

Stamp went on to beat Ritu Phogat in the final of the eight-woman tournament in December 2021 and overcame Ham during their world title matchup in the main event of ONE Fight Night 14 in September 2023.

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Denice Zamboanga won't give up on dream duel vs Stamp

Stamp, however, has been out of action since, which allowed Denice Zamboanga to capture the provisional belt at ONE Fight Night 27 this past January, to set up a world title unification contest against her former training partner.

However, arrangements for a clash against the Fairtex Training Center were pushed back onto the barnburner as she continued her race to full fitness. With characteristic humor despite the disappointment, Denice Zamboanga revealed:

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"Then, when the time comes that I'm going to fight with Stamp, I don't know what's happening. I think there's a curse or something about our match because it didn't happen. It's like the fourth time it didn't happen."

Despite these setbacks, the new champion maintains optimism about eventually facing her close pal. Keeping the door open for what many consider the most compelling matchup in the division, she concluded:

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"Hopefully she will recover and we can face each other soon."

Watch her full interview with Carlo Perruzza here:

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About the author James De Rozario James De Rozario is a sports journalist passionate about mixed martial arts, football, hockey, and F1.

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