ONE 166: Thai superstar Stamp Fairtex defends atomweight MMA crown against close friend Denice Zamboanga

The hype for ONE Championship’s debut event in Qatar got crazier after the promotion announced Stamp Fairtex’s first defense of her newly won ONE women’s atomweight MMA world title.

High drama could also be expected in the fight as Stamp will defend the crown against former teammate and close friend Denice Zamboanga at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena.

The match could turn the careers of both competitors since this will also be Zamboanga’s first world title fight in ONE Championship, and a win over Stamp could push her to unimaginable heights.

Stamp, a former ONE atomweight kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion, became ONE Championship’s first-ever three-sport world champion when she knocked out South Korean superstar Ham Seo Hee at ONE Fight Night 14.

Originally scheduled to contend for the interim belt, Stamp and Ham’s match was quickly elevated for the undisputed world title after inaugural ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champion Angela Lee retired from the sport.

Zamboanga, meanwhile, is the second-ranked contender in the women’s atomweight MMA division. The Filipino star is coming off two straight wins against China’s Lin Heqin and Brazil’s Julie Mezabarba.

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Five world title fights litter the loaded ONE 166 card

ONE Championship promised ONE 166 as arguably the biggest combat sports card of the year, and it could very well be deserving of that honor.

When the promotion first announced its on-site arrival in Qatar, ONE Championship announced that ONE 166 would have five world title fights. Several weeks after that announcement, all five bouts have been announced.

ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin will try for a historic hat trick when he challenges Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight MMA world championship in the card’s main event.

The penultimate bout of the card will see Jarred Brooks defend his ONE strawweight MMA world title against old rival Joshua Pacio.

The unification match for the undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world title between world champion Tang Kai and interim world titleholder Thanh Le is ONE 166’s third world title fight.

Tye Ruotolo is on his first world title defense when he puts his ONE welterweight submission grappling world title against Izaak Michell, while Stamp’s defense of the ONE women’s atomweight MMA world title against Zamboanga rounds out the world title quintet.