IN the Philippines, the Yuletide Season is traditionally celebrated until the Feast of the Three Kings on January 6. But for Denice Zamboanga, the festive spirit lingers a bit longer as she looks to extend the celebrations to Saturday, January 11. On that day, she will vie for 26 pounds of gold.
“The Menace” is penciled to square off against Ukraine’s Alyona Rassohyna for the ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Championship in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 27, taking place at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
This moment has been five years in the making for the 27-year-old from Quezon City. Zamboanga’s journey to a world title began with a stunning upset over Japanese veteran Mei Yamaguchi in February 2020. In that moment, company head honcho Chartri Sityodtong was heard shouting “title shot!” at ringside as an empty arena echoed, a product of the COVID-19 lockdowns that had just begun to grip the world.
Yet, as fate would have it, her dream was put on hold when Angela Lee, the division’s queen at the time, took a break after announcing her pregnancy. Zamboanga was left to find her way through a series of detours — grinding away with no clear path to the title.
What followed was a series of side quests, each one more challenging than the last. Zamboanga joined the 2021 ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix, only to suffer a controversial split decision loss to Ham Seo Hee in the quarterfinals. She couldn’t catch a break. A rematch came in March 2022, but once again, she fell short, this time by a unanimous decision.
However, Zamboanga refused to be defined by those losses. She clawed her way back into the title conversation with a hard-fought split decision win over Lin Heqin in December 2022, followed by a dominant unanimous decision victory against Julie Mezabarba in April 2023.
Ranked No. 2 in the weight class, Zamboanga earned her shot at the coveted hardware, with the opportunity to face friend and former teammate Stamp Fairtex, who succeeded Lee to the throne when the Singaporean-American retired in September 2023.
Her persistence finally paid off with a spot to battle Stamp for the lineal crown at ONE 166 in March 2024, but that bout was unexpectedly rescheduled to ONE 167 in June 2024.
Unfortunately, the drama continued as Stamp suffered a torn meniscus just two weeks before the scheduled encounter, forcing a change in plans. Zamboanga was then thrust into a high-risk, low-reward clash against replacement opponent Noelle Grandjean at ONE 167. As always, she rose to the occasion, walking away with a dominant unanimous decision victory to keep her pole position in the title race.
With Stamp still recovering from injury, the promotion decided to enshrine an interim titleholder, giving Zamboanga the chance to compete for a share of the sought-after seat atop the bracket.
But just when it seemed the stars were aligning, another setback came her way. Zamboanga’s hamstring injury forced her to withdraw from her October 2024 showdown with Rassohyna at ONE Fight Night 25. For weeks, she rehabbed her injury, unsure of what the future held.
Now, though, after weeks of recovery, Zamboanga is back, and the title shot remains on the table. The moment is here, and it could be her defining moment.
It has been a journey paved with sweat, blood, and tears. Now, she finds herself on the cusp of the rare privilege of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Filipino MMA luminaries who have held gold in the sport.
If Zamboanga emerges victorious over Rassohyna, she will cement her place in history as the first Filipina to ever claim a major world title in MMA — a milestone not just for Philippine MMA, but for the entire Philippine sports community.
As the legendary AC/DC song from 1975 goes, it’s been a long way to the top — but on Saturday, Zamboanga will make sure it was all worth the wait.
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