After years and years of waiting, Denice Zamboanga can now call herself an undisputed world champion — but not in the way she expected.
Life often gives curve balls, and for Denice Zamboanga, there hasn’t been any shortage of surprises, setbacks, and adjustments in the past five years that she’s chased the ONE MMA Women’s Atomweight World Championship.
And now that she’s finally won the esteemed title, it came with another unexpected turn in her long-standing career.
After winning the interim championship earlier this year, Zamboanga was scheduled to face off against good pal Stamp Fairtex to unify the title in the hopes of becoming the undisputed champion, following multiple changes in their respective careers.
But, as life would have it, Stamp suffered another injury before their title unification showdown originally set for ONE 173 in Denver. As a result, the Thai fighter was forced to relinquish her title, therefore making Zamboanga the new undisputed queen of the atomweight division.
[READ: Denice Zamboanga named undisputed champion after Stamp Fairtex withdraws from ONE 173]
Making her mark as the Philippines’ first female MMA champion in the Singapore-based promotion, Zamboanga bared her thoughts on the unlikely path to become undisputed champ.
“By God’s grace, I am now the undisputed ONE Atomweight World Champion. This may not have happened in the way I expected, but I believe everything unfolds in God’s perfect timing. I continue to pray for Stamp’s healing and hope to share the Circle with her again,” wrote Zamboanga on social media.
As early as 2020, Zamboanga was already touted as one of the contenders for the title, which was then held by Singaporean fighter Angela Lee.
But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, controversial losses, and fight cancellations, Zamboanga had to go through multiple setbacks en route to her goal.
In January this year, Zamboanga scored her breakthrough victory when she toppled Alyona Rassohyna via TKO to claim the interim world title.
Despite earning her laurels, the Quezon City native felt that there were still things left to prove, considering her interim status. Zamboanga had hoped to vanquish all doubts when she and Stamp tangled in their mega bout.
But now that she’s already the undisputed champion, Zamboanga will have to settle for the unorthodox path she took. After all, she owes it to herself and the rest of her support system who have stood by her during the hardest times.
“To my coaches, team, family, friends, and fans.. thank you for standing by me through every highs and lows. To my sponsors and everyone who believed in me from day one, this victory is ours,” she wrote.
“To God be all the glory. Para sa Pilipinas.”
Zamboanga is one of two active MMA champions from the Philippines in ONE Championship, the other being reigning strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio.