Stamp Fairtex overtakes her friend Denice Zamboanga in ONE rankings update

Stamp Fairtex has moved ahead of Denice Zamboanga in the ONE atomweight rankings.

The ONE Championship official athlete rankings were updated following the events of ONE: Winter Warriors, which took place on December 3rd. There was significant movement in the women's atomweight and men's lightweight divisions.

Thailand’s Stamp Fairtex, previously ranked No.2, overtook her close friend and former training partner Denice ‘Lycan Queen’ Zamboanga. She moved up to the top spot in the division.

Meanwhile, Zamboanga slid to the second spot. Ham Seo Hee, Ritu Phogat and Meng Bo retained their spots at No.3, 4 and 5 respectively.

Stamp secured an impressive second-round submission finish at ONE: Winter Warriors, tapping out Indian wrestling phenom Ritu Phogat with an armbar. The victory earned Stamp the highly coveted ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship silver belt.

More importantly, it earned Stamp the right to face Singaporean-American superstar ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee for the ONE women’s atomweight world title sometime in early 2022.

Over at lightweight, Dagi Arslanaliev blew past former ONE lightweight world champion Shinya Aoki to land at No.2 in the lightweight rankings, pushing the Japanese fighter down to No.3.

Arslanaliev featured in a “Fight of the Year” caliber lightweight classic against hard-hitting Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE: Winter Warriors. It was an action-packed affair from start to finish, with Arslanaliev emerging the victor via third-round TKO.

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Other ONE Championship official rankings updates

In the ONE Super Series bantamweight kickboxing division, Japan’s Hiroki Akimoto leapfrogged the legendary Nong-O Gaiyanghadao to end up at the No.2 spot. Akimoto was victorious at ONE: Winter Warriors, winning via unanimous decision against Chinese kickboxing superstar Qiu Jianliang, who was making his promotional debut.

Akimoto spoiled Qiu’s party with a comprehensive performance, shocking the Chinese fighter with power, aggression, and activity throughout the duration of the bout. Qiu, who is ranked No.2 at super featherweight by Combat Press, couldn’t get into his rhythm, as Akimoto outworked him and continuously beat him to the punch.

ONE Championship returns on December 17 with the pre-recorded event, ONE: Winter Warriors II, which airs via tape delay. In the main event, the Philippines' Danny Kingad takes on Kairat Akhmetov.