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Denice Zamboanga will fight anyone ONE Championship puts in front of her, but there's one atomweight contender she's definitely got her eyes on.
Zamboanga became the undisputed ONE atomweight MMA world champion after former titleholder Stamp Fairtex relinquished her belt while recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
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And while ONE Championship still hopes to reschedule Zamboanga vs. Stamp in the future, 'The Menace' plans on putting her 26 pounds of gold on the line long before the Thai fan favorite is ready to resume her fighting career.
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As for who she could face in her first official title defense, Zamboanga is more than welcoming of a clash with third-ranked contender Ham Seo Hee, but she believes surging Japanese standout Ayaka Miura is more deserving of the opportunity. Speaking to Nick Atkin, Zamboanga said:
"I think Ayaka deserves it more because she's the most active in our division, and also she won every single match she had in her recent fights. So, I think she deserves to fight with the champion".
"But it doesn't matter if I fight with Ham, but I think she needs to fight one more fight to get back on her momentum. But yeah, I'm happy to face Ayaka."
Denice Zamboanga hopes she'll meet Stamp inside the Circle someday
Denice Zamboanga was scheduled to fight Stamp Fairtex twice in the last year before their highly anticipated clash was put on the back burner.
Their first booking was for ONE 167 in June, but Stamp was forced to bow out of the bout after sustaining the meniscus injury that would eventually force her to relinquish her title.
They were also expected to scrap this summer, but that fight fell through after Stamp's recovery was found to be taking longer than expected.
It's an undeniably frustrating situation for both fighters and fans, but Denice Zamboanga is hopeful that someday, they'll be able to officially set their friendship aside and find out who the best atomweight in the world truly is. Zamboanga said:
"I think maybe because God knows that we're friends, he doesn't allow us to fight each other. Kidding aside, I don't know," Zamboanga said. "A lot of people are waiting, and I'm very excited for me and Stamp to fight in the Circle. But yeah, hopefully she recovers and we face each other when she comes back."
Until the time comes for Stamp and Zamboanga to meet on martial arts' biggest global stage, who do you want to see 'The Menance' defend her title against?
