Former ONE atomweight MMA world champion Stamp Fairtex is determined to reclaim the championship belt she used to hold. She, however, is just biding time to get back her feel for the game, squeezing in some matches after a long injury layoff.
It includes her scheduled Muay Thai match at The Inner Circle 20, ONE Championship‘s exclusive fight card offering, on June 26 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The 28-year-old Fairtex Training Center standout will battle Cynthia Flores of Mexico in an atomweight clash.
In an interview with the promotion, Stamp shared how her Muay Thai battle against Flores should help her prepare better for her eventual return to MMA and become a world champion again.
“My long-term plan hasn’t changed. I just felt like I needed a fight or two in the striking arts just to get my lungs burning and get my rhythm back before jumping back into MMA, because MMA takes a massive toll on your cardio. My main goal is to get my belt back,” she said.
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Stamp made her return from a two-year recovery from a knee injury back in November. She, however, lost by decision to Japanese Kana in their atomweight kickboxing battle.
The Thai superstar claimed the vacant ONE atomweight MMA title in September 2023 but had to vacate it in 2024 as she suffered a knee injury in training even before she got to defend it. Before winning the MMA gold, she also concurrently held the atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing titles.
Meanwhile, her opponent at The Inner Circle 20, Flores, is looking for a breakthrough victory in ONE Championship since joining the promotion last year.
The Inner Circle 20 will take place ahead of ONE Friday Fights 160 and stream exclusively on live.onefc.com.
MMA world title shot opens for Stamp after Denice Zamboanga vacates belt
Stamp’s bid to claim the ONE atomweight MMA world title further opened up after erstwhile divisional queen Denice Zamboanga recently vacated the belt to focus on motherhood.
‘The Menace’ announced in a social media post that she was vacating the atomweight gold following the birth of her first child. She shared that after careful thought, she decided to relinquish her title to allow her division to move on and crown a new champion while vowing to return to competition when she is ready.
Stamp was supposed to defend the atomweight MMA belt in 2024 against the then-interim champion Zamboanga, but her knee injury and consequent setback in her rehabilitation forced her to vacate, and the Filipino fighter was elevated to the undisputed champion.
Incidentally, the two were former teammates at Fairtex Training Center.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim