Stamp Fairtex has been fighting for family since she was a kid

ONE Championship superstar Stamp Fairtex began her Muay Thai career at the age of five with the support of her family. She has won world titles on the biggest stages internationally, but she is most grateful for the support her family has given her.

On Instagram, ONE Championship shared a short clip of the history of Stamp. It starts with her speaking as a child with videos of her fighting as a youngster:

"'My dad and mom are my motivation to fight.' Stamp helped her family buy a house by winning fights as a kid. She changed their lives by winning her first ONE World Title. Can she win a third World Title for her family in MMA?"

In Thailand, it is common for children to pick up Muay Thai and take fights at a young age to help support their family. Stamp took her first fight at the age of five and this is normal. Her family were farmers and Muay Thai was another source of income for her home. In an interview with ONE, she said:

“The locals make a living from farming. My family has rubber, durian, and rambutan farms. I was just an ordinary girl, helping my parents on the fruit farms.”

Muay Thai is a route out of poverty for many young athletes in Thailand. Similar to Stamp, world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon also used Muay Thai as a way to help his family as a child. He had his first fight at the age of eight. Speaking to ONE, the champion said:

“My parents did whatever they could to provide for us children. They would leave in the early hours of the morning, and come home late at night... They would work all day, just to feed us for that night... I realized through Muay Thai, I could not only provide for myself, but for my family also.”

Stamp began her Muay Thai journey early and succeeded in bringing her family out of poverty. Along the way, she captured Stadium championships and other titles in Thailand. She reached a career high in ONE Championship when she earned world titles in both Muay Thai and kickboxing before she was even 23 years old.

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Stamp Fairtex wants MMA gold

Stamp Fairtex is a two-sport world champion, having held belts in both Muay Thai and kickboxing. Now, she wants to earn a third world championship in MMA. Stamp is a striking-based fighter who showed impressive groundwork when she won the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix by submitting Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning wrestler Ritu Phogat.

She would later challenge for the division’s MMA throne against reigning atomweight world champion 'Unstoppable' Angela Lee. Despite early success in the fight, Lee's experience and ground game proved too much and the Singaporean-American superstar retained her belt with a second-round submission.

Despite the loss, Stamp Fairtex still wants to win the MMA atomweight world title in ONE. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the Thai-born fighter said:

"After fighting her the first time, I know that if I fought her again, I can knock her out and I can win. Because I know how she fights now, I’ve experienced it.”

She will need to work her way through the competitive atomweight division to earn her top contender position again. Stamp Fairtex will likely be back in ONE later in 2022 and, given her abilities, could be on her way to another world title shot.