Alyona Rassohyna boasts of tons of confidence entering her ONE Interim Atomweight MMA World Title fight against Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga this weekend.
The pair will duke it out in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 27 this Saturday, January 11, from inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, to see who gets to unify belts with divisional queen Stamp Fairtex.
Rassohyna believes her diverse skill set will give her the upper hand against the pride of Quezon City, Philippines – noting how her previous battles with reigning atomweight queen Stamp proved that.
“I call myself a well-rounded fighter because I can work both in stand-up and grappling. That was confirmed in my last two fights with Stamp,” she said.
Zamboanga might have impressed others with her striking, particularly with her boxing, but not Rassohyna.
She believes “The Menace” expectedly looked good against fighters who weren’t on her level when it comes to the stand-up game.
Add to that the fact that Rassohyna spent six rounds with Stamp in two different fights and was never finished on the feet gives her the confidence that she can handle the Filipina’s striking.
“The work that I’ve seen from Denice in her last fights showed that the girls who boxed with her were worse in class and technically unprepared to fight her in stand-up. They didn’t have the setups or feints to create entries,” she said.
“As I understand it, their game plan was focused on takedowns, but their stand-up preparation was weak, which gave Denice an advantage in the stand-up.”
For the 34-year-old, this is her chance to breakthrough. In fact, she sees this as a ticket to not only complete a trilogy with Stamp but do it for the undisputed ONE Atomweight MMA World Title.
“I feel like this is a chance to fulfill my potential – and I will definitely do it. For me, this interim belt is one of the big opportunities, a chance to realize myself on the way to the [undisputed] belt,” she said.
“I’ve been working toward this for a long time. I set a goal for myself long before I signed in this division that I would win the World Title, and my goals are materializing, so I’m happy with how much success I’ve had so far.”
