Denice Zamboanga is proud to play her part in the development of mixed martial arts in the Philippines. Ahead of her clash against Noelle Grandjean, Zamboanga explains how the Philippines T-Rex MMA is growing tremendously.

This Friday, June 7, on U.S. primetime, “The Menace” is set to take on Noelle “Lil’ Monkey” Grandjean in an atomweight MMA bout at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut II inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

From Thailand to T-Rex MMA with Denice Zamboanga

The Filipina star spent time training with some of the best in Thailand while at the famed Fairtex Training Center and Marrok Force gyms, where she shared the mats with the likes of Stamp Fairtex, Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak, and her upcoming foe, Grandjean. However, she is now back in her homeland, working with T-Rex MMA, alongside her brother, ONE bantamweight contender Drex Zamboanga, and sharing what she learned in Thailand.

“Now that we’re here in the Philippines, I feel like we’ve brought the international level of training. What we picked up from there (Thailand), the routine, and the attitude that we’ve developed there, we’re still keeping it here in T-Rex MMA,” Zamboanga told ONE in a recent interview.

“The Menace” moving to her brother’s gym seems natural, given that she started her martial arts journey because of Drex. However, it appears it wasn’t planned at all. What was supposed to be a short stint, evolved into a full camp and then a permanent move home.

Rising to prominence in the Filipino martial arts landscape

Inspired by the efforts of other gyms in the Philippines, like Team Lakay and the recently-established Lions Nation MMA, Zamboanga decided to stay on and play her part in developing the next generation of athletes in her country. “It’s not like we just decided to go home and say, ‘Let’s just move back to the Philippines for good.’ What happened is we went home, we just trained like we used to, and it sort of picked up from there,” she said.

She further added, “We realized we can do it. We can stand on our own. I look at other established gyms like Team Lakay or Lions Nation, and we’re thinking, if they can do it, T-Rex MMA can also do it.” “The Menace” was originally scheduled to challenge Stamp for the ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title in the main event of ONE 167 this weekend until the Thai superstar was forced to pull out due to injury.

Nonetheless, fans should keep their eyes on her battle with Grandjean further down the card, as she’ll look to cement her #2-ranked position in the divisional ranks and confirm that she’s worthy of a World Title shot.