"A bit nervous and not that confident" - Denice Zamboanga talks pre-fight struggles before title win over Alyona Rassohyna

Newly crowned ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion Denice Zamboanga has revealed the significant pre-fight anxiety she experienced before capturing 26 pounds of gold against Alyona Rassohyna at ONE Fight Night 27 this past January.

The Filipino warrior who emerged victorious via second-round TKO inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, admitted that her opponent's impressive credentials left her questioning her own abilities before she picked up her fourth successive triumph in the organization.

"At first, fighting with Alyona, I'm a bit nervous because I saw her fighting with Stamp before, and I trained with Stamp," Zamboanga told Carlo Perruzza when asked about the mental challenges she faced leading up to her career-defining performance. "So I know the capabilities of Stamp and her opponent. [I was] kind of nervous because she can out-strike Stamp, and also her wrestling and grappling are very outstanding. So I was a bit nervous and not that confident," she added.

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Despite the mental obstacles, 'The Menace's' ability to overcome her doubts and execute her team's strategy down to her tee on fight night helped her earn the interim crown and a cool US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

"I'm grateful that our fight camp and our game plan did work in the match," Denice Zamboanga continued.

The T-Rex MMA affiliate has since been elevated to the queen of the division in light of Stamp's ongoing recovery from injury, a scenario that has pushed out a couple of world title unification matchups between the former Fairtex Training Center teammates.

Denice Zamboanga now awaits her first test as the atomweight queen, with an immediate showdown with Stamp still being far out of the picture. However, the Philippines' first-ever female MMA world champion is not short of contenders in the division.

Watch the full interview here:

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Stamp names two leading contenders that could challenge Denice Zamboanga for world title glory

Former three-sport ONE world champion Stamp Fairtex has named Ham Seo Hee and Ayaka Miura as two viable options for Denice Zamboanga to kickstart her reign as the queen of the division.

"Ayaka is really good and can give a shot for the belt. Ham Seo Hee is also a really good fight," the 27-year-old told the South China Morning Post in a separate interview.

Both fights make thorough sense, after all.

Miura, who sits at the No.2-ranked spot behind Stamp, is well in the world title race off a four-fight winning streak, including three submission finishes of Meng Bo, Macarena Aragon, and Ritu Phogat.

But a fight with the No.3-ranked Ham Seo Hee is something that should capture the attention of fight fans, given the history between the two.

The South Korean veteran beat Zamboanga in back-to-back matchups in September 2021 and March 2022. 'The Menace' has been eager to run it back against Ham ever since, and promises that their possible trilogy "will be a totally different fight."

Catch Denice Zamboanga's title-winning performance below:

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Edited by Tejas Rathi