Top ONE atomweight Denice Zamboanga is engaged with soon-to-be husband Fritz Biagtan

Denice Zamboanga is yet to win a belt, but she’s already snagged herself a ring.

The top-ranked atomweight contender revealed on Instagram that she and longtime boyfriend and fellow mixed martial artist Fritz Biagtan are engaged. The couple officially got engaged on May 1, but Zamboanga made the announcement on May 27.

While it was a late announcement on the part of Zamboanga, she said that the timing wasn’t done just to surprise her fans. She wrote on Instagram that she wanted to keep things subtle and avoid any pageantry that often comes with such life milestones.

In her post, which was originally written in Filipino, Zamboanga wrote:

“To those who don’t know I’m in a relationship, I’m sorry for surprising you that I’m engaged now. I just don’t post [about] my relationship on social media – not because I’m not proud of my partner, but I [prefer to] keep it low-key.”

As if plucked out of an MMA fairy tale, the No.3 atomweight contender revealed in an interview with ONE Championship that her relationship with Biagtan started from a deeply-rooted friendship.

The two first met as aspiring fighters in the Philippines’ growing MMA landscape and things started to take off from there.

Zamboanga’s older brother Drex, who’s also fighting in ONE Championship, was friends with Biagtan, making the relationship between the love birds that much easier.

The two even took their careers to the next step when they moved to Bangkok, Thailand, and joined the renowned Marrok Force gym.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. Fritz and my brother competed at the same time in one card, so we’ve been friends even before [we started dating]. Right now, we’re nearing three years in our relationship. He’s such a nice guy, truly husband material. He’s God-fearing. Everything that I’m looking for in a man, it’s in Fritz.”

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Denice Zamboanga finds perfect match in Biagtan

Denice Zamboanga went on a tear in her start at ONE Championship, going 3-0 in her first three fights, including a dominant win over the ever-dangerous Mei Yamaguchi in just her second fight in the promotion.

Although MMA is an individual sport, an athlete still relies on a tremendous team that supports her in and outside of the circle.

For Zamboanga, one of the most important figures in her corner is Biagtan.

“It’s a huge thing for me that I found someone with the same interests. For sure, he understands my struggles. There are other situations where their partners don’t understand the struggle of a fighter mainly because they’ve never been there. For me, it makes things easier. Sometimes he becomes my coach and training partner, so it’s a huge thing.”