Denice Zamboanga Prioritizes Personal Goals Over Friendship With Stamp Fairtex, “We’re Standing in Front of Each Other’s Dreams”

Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga will soon return to action for the biggest opportunity of her professional career – and she’ll be fighting a good friend and former teammate.

On June 7, in the main event of ONE 167 on Prime Video, the talented Filipina will challenge Thai superstar Stamp Fairtex for her ONE Atomweight MMA World Title, live in U.S. primetime from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Denis Zamboanga and Stamp Fairtex’s competitive Bond

The pair first trained together back in 2019, when Zamboanga relocated from her native Philippines to sharpen her tools at the legendary Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya, Thailand. It was there that she and Stamp became fast friends and regular training partners.

“The Menace” would move on two years later, but the two ONE standouts have remained close.

According to Zamboanga, their friendship won’t get in the way of them going to war when the World Title is on the line.

She said: “We’re really good friends, but at the end of the day, this is where professionalism comes in. The moment we enter the ONE Circle, that friendship will have to be put aside, as we both have the same goals.

“We’re standing in front of each other’s dreams, and that’s what I’ll be thinking about when we face each other.”

Plenty has changed since Zamboanga and Stamp shared the training mats.

The Thai has claimed the atomweight MMA crown, adding to her impressive trophy case that also includes ONE Muay Thai and kickboxing gold to make herself an unprecedented three-sport World Champion.

Zamboanga gears Up for rematch with Stamp

For her part, “The Menace” suffered back-to-back hard-fought losses to Ham Seo Hee – the only woman to ever defeat her. But since then, she’s bested Lin Heqin and Julie Mezabarba to earn the #2 spot in the talent-laden atomweight MMA rankings and secure a crack at Stamp.

Zamboanga says that even though they’ve shared countless hours in the gym, her friend will be surprised by how much she’s evolved as a fighter: “Sure, we trained together, and in a sense, we’re familiar with each other’s games, the strengths and weaknesses, and whatnot, but I believe a lot has changed since then.

“It’s been years since we last trained together, so as much as there’s still familiarity, I believe I’ll surprise her with how much I improved, and I expect Stamp to have improved a lot as well.”