HER worth as a title contender for the ONE Championship women’s atomweight division questioned, Filipino mixed martial arts fighter Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga said she is accepting the challenge to earn a shot by way of a grand prix format.
Unbeaten in three fights to date in ONE, 23-year-old Zamboanga (5-0) has positioned herself as one of the fighters to watch out for to challenge long-time champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee (10-2) of Singapore, something the former said she is looking forward to doing so, even calling out Ms. Lee for a title shot.
Unfortunately, the Singaporean champion is going to be out for a while since she is pregnant with her first child with husband Bruno Pucci and is due to give birth next year.
Given the situation, Ms. Zamboanga floated the idea of Ms. Lee vacating the title to give others the opportunity to fight for it.
Ms. Lee took exception to it, saying she is not giving up the atomweight title because she earned it and that those who want to have the belt have to battle for it.
She went on to issue a challenge to Ms. Zamboanga, saying “I think that Denice should have to face the top 10 girls first to truly prove herself as the number one contender, and the ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix Championship is the perfect way to do that.”
The setup details for a grand prix in the division have not been finalized yet but Ms. Zamboanga expressed her readiness for it if that is what would take for her to reach her world title goals.
Under the grand prix, fighters have to go through a series of bouts with the last person standing in the end declared the champion.
“I am so pumped for this tournament. I’m looking forward to competing for this ultra prestigious title. This will be the most challenging competition that no female fighter in ONE Championship history has ever faced,” she said.
Adding, “To all the other female fighters who will be competing, it will be an honor to face you all in this tournament. A lot of people want to see me and Angela fight, so I will get the Grand Prix belt and then I’m on to the Atomweight World Title at the end of 2021.”
Ms. Zamboanga’s last fight came in August where she was a first-round submission (keylock) winner over Thai Watsyapinya Kaewkhong.
ONE Championship is set to next play on Oct. 30 in Singapore with ONE: Inside the Matrix, featuring four world title bouts, headlined by that between reigning ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang of Myanmar and middleweight top contender Reinier “The Dutch Knight” de Ridder of the Netherlands.
Also set to see action there is Team Lakay’s Eduard Folayang against Australian Antonio Caruso. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
