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Stamp Fairtex is still hellbent on becoming ONE’s first-ever three-sport world champion, even if it means fighting above her weight class.
The 24-year-old Thai superstar, who once held the women’s kickboxing and muay thai world titles at 115-pounds, recently tried to add a mixed martial arts world championship to her legendary resume. She put up quite the fight against the returning ONE women’s atomweight world champion Angela Lee in an epic chess match at ONE X this past March.
Stamp even came close to finishing the fight midway in round 1 after connecting on a textbook body shot that sent the ‘Unstoppable’ reeling in retreat. The ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix winner followed that up with a barrage of strikes, but Lee weathered the storm and somehow survived the onslaught.
Lee imposed her will by taking the scrap to the ground in round 2, eventually flattening out the challenger and sinking in a fight-ending rear naked choke.
Relieve the epic match-up below:
Despite the setback, Stamp is still on a mission to become an MMA world champion one way or another. The idea of climbing up a weight class has been thrown around, and the former ONE Super Series contender seems up for it.
Reigning ONE women’s strawweight queen Xiong Jing Nan was the first name on her mind. Speaking with ONE Championship, Stamp said the challenge of adding weight to her frame is the only hindrance preventing her from moving to strawweight.
“I have lost weight from my hard training. It’s hard for me to gain weight to [get to the] strawweight division right now. I can eat more and make weight to fight with her, but it will make me sluggish in the Circle. But if one day I feel like I’m satisfied with atomweight division, I might go up to strawweight because my body can still grow.”
Stamp Fairtex does have a full plate right now, since she’s slated to face Jihin ‘Shadow Cat’ Radzuan at ONE on Prime Video 2 on September 30. ONE also recently announced a mixed-rules fight between her and Anissa Meksen early next year.
Stamp Fairtex says she matches well against Xiong Jing Nan
If a Stamp Fairtex vs. Xiong match does happen somewhere down the line, the no.1 ranked women’s atomweight contender believes their similar skills could cancel each other out.
A veteran of 85 kickboxing fights, Stamp Fairtex is considered one of the best pure strikers in women’s MMA. ‘The Panda’, on the other hand, is no slouch herself, using her Sanda background to knock her opponents senseless.
Stamp told ONE:
“No one [would have] an advantage or disadvantage in this game. [Xiong] specializes in boxing, so she will use her fast footwork to get close to me. And I have to keep the distance between me and her by kicking.”
At the end of the day, styles do make fights. A battle between these two fearsome strikers will surely be a certified banger.
