“You’re such a worthy successor” - Fans are ready for the Stamp Fairtex era in women’s MMA

At ONE Fight Night 14 last Friday, Stamp Fairtex made history by stopping Ham Seo Hee to become the new ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion. By doing so, the Thai striker became the promotion's first-ever three-sport world champion. Stamp Fairtex is the only athlete on the ONE roster, past or present, to ever win the promotion's Muay Thai, kickboxing and now, MMA world titles.

Originally slated to fight for the interim ONE women's atomweight world title, Stamp's fight was promoted to undisputed world title bout in the heels of long-time divisional queen, Angela Lee, retiring on the same night.

Stamp Fairtex was in tears backstage as her idol and former foe, Angela Lee, announced her retirement in the middle of the Circle:

"Farewell to a legend 🙏 @stamp_fairtex @angelaleemma"

There's an outpour of support from fans towards Stamp, who has the task of continuing ONE's atomweight legacy through her new world title reign:

Comments from fans

@johnhedleysmith said what most of us thought to be true about the new world champion:

"You [Stamp] are such a worthy successor to a true champion Stamp 😊😊"

@daniel_korber appreciated the poetic passing of the torch that night:

"Stamp idolized her now fights in her honor a worthy champion to succeed."

@benjamindavidlee24 seconded it:

"That’s the definition of passing the torch one great retires belt up grab and another young hungry great lion grabs it"

With her world title win last Friday, Stamp Fairtex has joined an elite group of combat sports icons. Not even the likes of striker-turned-MMA world champion Valentina Shevchenko or Israel Adesanya can proclaim that they reached the pinnacle of three separate combat sports. Stamp is now a legend amongst legends.

After winning the ONE atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world titles in her first year in the promotion, Stamp Fairtex transitioned into MMA and eventually rose to the no.1 spot. Her first attempt at an MMA world title was unsuccessful, however, as the resilient Angela Lee survived Stamp's early onslaught to win the thrilling bout via a submission at ONE X.

After her devastating loss to the then-world champion, the Pattaya native bounced back with three big wins, leading to her amazing performance at ONE Fight Night 14. What made the win even more special was the fact that it was Angela Lee herself who put the belt on the new divisional queen.

ONE Fight Night 14 is available to watch back in its entirety for free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription.