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Stamp Fairtex earned her ticket to the ONE atomweight Grand Prix finals after beating Julie Mezabarba during the main event of ONE: NextGen at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The Thai fighter used her kickboxing base to keep the Brazilian from taking her to the ground. At one point in the fight, Mezabarba was able to bring Stamp to the ground but she immediately escaped.
Mezabarba's initial plan was to get Stamp on the mount and use her ground game to gain an advantage. However, Stamp did enough to silence her opponent. Mezabarba had previously called out Fairtex's MMA game, saying she was not a complete fighter.
"That’s why she’s trying to take me down and then I was on defense in the last round. That’s how I can prove myself that she’s wrong. She mentioned a lot, she previously talked a big game, saying that my MMA skills are overrated," said Stamp after their fight.
The win booked Stamp to face Ritu Phogat in the Grand Prix finals. Her professional MMA record improved to 6-1 and it was her third win through judges' decision.
Stamp Fairtex has added skills heading to ONE Grand Prix finals
Known as a good striker, Stamp focused on improving her ground game. Her goal was to make herself a well-rounded fighter after her bout with Alyona Rassohyna this September.
Fairtex had less than two months to come up with a game plan for her fight against Mezabarba. Prevailing over the Brazilian fighter showed the fruits of her labor as it prepared her for bigger bouts in ONE Championship.
"I did train but I did it more for defense if my opponent takes me down. In this fight, I prepared more for my striking game, compared to my preparation with Alyona [Rassohyna], I prepared more for our ground game," Stamp said. "In my fight against my opponent, Julie, she’s quite good at kickboxing which is more of striking so I heavily focused more on my striking than my ground game."
If Stamp prevails over Phogat in the Grand Prix finals, she will earn a title shot and face reigning champion Angela Lee.
