Noelle Grandjean has big shoes to fill, but she’s ready to do it well. This Friday, June 7, “Lil’ Monkey” will step in on short notice to face Filipina sensation Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga in an atomweight MMA bout at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs Nattawut II inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Zamboanga was initially set to challenge friend and former teammate Stamp Fairtex for the ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title in the main event until the Thai superstar was sidelined by an unfortunate injury just weeks before the match.

Noelle Grandjean believes that she will go hard on Zamboanga

Luckily, Grandjean, who trained with Stamp at the famed Fairtex Training Center, was ready to accept the challenge and continue the friend-versus-friend storyline.

“It’s also sad to hear that Stamp is out. I was actually looking forward to that fight as well. But you know, accidents happen. I think it’s nice because it’s also actually the same story. I’m part Thai. We’re former teammates as well. It’s a bit of the same story, but different fighting styles,” she told ONE in an interview.

Nothing forges friendships better than putting in work together, but Grandjean believes that, as professionals, she and Zamboanga can put their bond in the background when they square off this weekend. And when all is said and done, their relationship will endure. “Of course, we don’t want to punch each other’s faces. But at the end of the day, we have the same goal. That’s what we have to do. After the fight, we can eat donuts together,” Grandjean said.

Grandjean’s confident evolution in MMA

Despite the relatively short preparation time, the 28-year-old is confident she has what it takes to pull off an important win and potentially vault herself into the stacked women’s atomweight MMA rankings. Grandjean is a well-rounded fighter with a background in judo and kickboxing, and she has also added Brazilian jiu-jitsu to her arsenal.

She believes that much has changed since the friends-turned-rivals trained together, and she’s ready to surprise “The Menace” with her development.”I think I might be one of the athletes who has improved their game the most because I started [MMA] a bit late,” Grandjean said.

She further added, “I trained with her when I was really starting MMA, so my improvement has been huge since then. I’ve fought different styles and in different countries. So I guess she will notice that on fight night.”