“Wishing for your smooth recovery” - Chihiro Sawada, fans react to Denice Zamboanga ONE 173 withdrawal

Denice Zamboanga
Denice Zamboanga's ONE 173 withdrawal sends fellow ONE fighters and fans reacting. -- Photo by ONE Championship

ONE atomweight MMA world champion Denice Zamboanga withdrew from her scheduled title defense later this year because of a medical issue. It garnered a lot of well-wishes from both fellow fighters and fans.

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'The Menace' was pencilled in to make her first title defense of the atomweight MMA gold at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri on Nov. 16 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. She was to take on the challenge of hometown bet Ayaka Miura at the tentpole event marking the second show of the promotion in the "Land of the Rising Sun" this year.

Zamboanga, however, last week shared on social media that she made the tough decision to withdraw from the title fight for medical reasons. ONE Championship picked it up and officially made the announcement on an Instagram post.

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ONE's announcement sent fellow fighters and fans taking to the comments section, expressing hope for a full recovery.

Among those who shared their support for Denice Zamboanga was ONE Championship atomweight fighter Chihiro Sawada, who said:

"Wishing for your smooth recovery and a strong comeback to the ring🕊️"
Expression of hope from one fighter to another
Expression of hope from one fighter to another
"Health always on first place 🙌," another fighter, Anna Kormosova, highlighted.
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Health is primordial.
Health is primordial.
"Sending warm hugs and speedy recovery 🙌," a fan said.
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Wishing for a speedy recovery
Wishing for a speedy recovery
"Get well soon @denicezamboanga 😢😢😢," a user wrote.
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Get well soon remark
Get well soon remark
"I feel so sad for her. She has worked her whole life for this. Get better soon," a fan commiserated with Denice Zamboanga.
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Sympathizing with 'The Menace'
Sympathizing with 'The Menace'
"Oh dear…this is sad news indeed. But know that we are here to support you! 💪🏻 We’ll wait for your comeback Kabayan!!!" an Filipino fan rallied behind Zamboanga.
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Support for a fellow Filipino
Support for a fellow Filipino

The Zamboanga-Miura title clash was slated to be one of four world title matches on offer at ONE 173. The event is headlined by the unification bout for the ONE featherweight kickboxing world title between reigning champ Superbon and interim titleholder Masaaki Noiri.

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Also on tap at ONE 173 is the world title rematch between heavyweight king 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane and former divisional king Anatoly Malykhin as well as the flyweight MMA championship match between reigning world champion Yuya Wakamatsu and strawweight champ Joshua Pacio.

For more information and updates on ONE 173, follow Sportskeeda MMA and ONE Championship.


Denice Zamboanga vows to return stronger and hungrier

Denice Zamboanga did not go into details on the medical issue she is dealing with and forced her to withdraw from her title fight at ONE 173. She, however, vowed to return stronger and better.

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In her IG post announcing her withdrawal from her title showdown against Ayaka Miura of Japan in November, the Filipino champion shared she is looking forward to returning at some point, writing:

"This sport means everything to me, and I promise I am fully committed to coming back stronger... This is not the end. I will return stronger and hungrier than ever. "

Denice Zamboanga currently holds a 7-2 record in ONE Championship. She became the interim atomweight MMA world champion in January and was elevated to undisputed divisional queen later on when erstwhile world champion Stamp Fairtex decided to vacate the belt because of injury.

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

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Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
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