ONE Championship: Stamp Fairtex's family-first mindset provides clarity through competitive struggles: "I won't give up fighting"

Former three-sport world champion Stamp Fairtex recently shared her mental state regarding her motivation to continue competing at the highest level on the global stage. Speaking to MMA great Demetrious Johnson in a recent appearance on the Mightycast, Stamp revealed that her family and the opportunity to become a better person push her to carry on, as she explained:

"When I lose something, my brain doesn't work. I come to my room and start crying, and I ask myself, "why compete? Why do I train really hard?" Then just, why, why why? I keep asking myself all the time, but it's the same answer - because I want to take care of my family. I want to build myself better than yesterday. It's the same answer, so I don't give up, I won't give up fighting."

Watch Stamp Fairtex's interview here:

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Stamp was supposed to fight her former teammate and good friend Denice Zamboanga in a unification battle for the undisputed ONE atomweight MMA world title later this year, but it was derailed after she suffered a nasty injury in training.

This forced the 27-year-old Thai superstar to relinquish the 26-pound golden belt, and the world's largest martial arts organization promoted the Filipina star to become the unquestioned queen of the weight class.

Stamp Fairtex details the previous injury she suffered in 2024

Before this latest injury, the Fairtex Training Center representative also sustained a previous knee injury that forced him to be on the sidelines for the majority of 2024, and she narrated how the injury happened during camp.

Stamp said that it was during a training session before her supposed world title clash with Zamboanga, as she explained during her appearance on the Mightycast:

"I was training before the fight, about two weeks out. It was my world title defense against Denice. My partner took my back, and then she lifted me, but my feet were still on the ground, and then she turned. Then it felt like my knee tweaked. That sucked."

About the author

Anatoly is an MMA writer with six years of experience. He covers ONE Championship at Sportskeeda, where he has contributed over 1000 pieces. He previously served as the lead MMA writer for BetMGM’s blog.

Anatoly holds a bachelor's degree in communication, which he feels has had a significant impact on his career.

Jon Jones’ submission win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in 2011 got him hooked to MMA. His favorite fighters include Eduard Folayang, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Anatoly provides Sportskeeda with exclusive pieces and has previously interviewed the former ONE flyweight MMA world champion, Adriano Moraes. While writing his pieces, he follows an extensive research process, referring only to credible sources like the UFC’s official website, Sherdog, and ESPN. He also likes to provide insights to his readers by keeping in mind important pillars of communication like media literacy and audience dynamics.

Anatoly advocates for a healthy and fit lifestyle by including boxing in his routine. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Krishna Venki