Denice Zamboanga will look to make history by becoming the first-ever Filipina to win a world championship in MMA at ONE 167 against Stamp.
Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao is keeping a close eye on the upcoming match between ONE Atomweight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex and surging Filipina contender Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga.
Zamboanga looks to make history by becoming the first-ever Filipina to win a world championship in MMA when she challenges her good friend for the ONE Atomweight MMA World Title at ONE 167 on June 8 inside Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
As a guy who has produced countless ONE world champions, Sangiao believes Zamboanga already has a leg-up on Stamp.
The two trained together at Fairtex Training Center years back, and Sangiao believes that the knowledge that Zamboanga has about Stamp will work to her favor.
“They were teammates before, and they know each other’s weaknesses and strengths and she should capitalize on that,” Sangiao said.
But Sangiao also thinks the Filipina shouldn’t get carried away with her striking.
“The Menace” can throw hands and has stifled opponents in the past with her boxing, but Stamp is simply on a different planet altogether when it comes to striking.
For Sangiao, Zamboanga should stick with her strengths, turn the fight into a grind, and make Stamp as uncomfortable as possible in the exchanges.
“Denice can strike, but we all know Stamp’s striking is more superior than hers,” Sangiao said.
“As a coach, I would tell Denice to take the fight where Stamp is lacking – she needs to focus on her ground game and wrestling.”
While he waits to see if another world title is headed to the Philippines in this Stamp-Zamboanga showdown, Sangiao is making the most out of his squad’s time off.
Last year, Team Lakay unleashed two young fighters in the promotion in Carlo Bumina-ang and Carlos Alvarez, proving that they can produce more talent after an exodus of its veterans rocked the squad last year.
For Sangiao, it won’t be long until another young fighter represents the red and black trunks of Team Lakay in ONE.
“We’re busy staging various MMA, kickboxing, and grappling events. We know for a fact that this is where everything begins. Our athletes all started in small grassroots events before eventually becoming World Champions and elite international fighters,” he said.
“We have to keep organizing events like this one to expose our new generation and to prepare them for higher and international competitions. We don’t stop.”