Zamboanga stopped Ukraine’s Aloyna Rassohyna in the second round of their battle for the ONE interim women’s atomweight title in Bangkok, Thailand to finally capture a ONE world title.
The Philippines’ Zamboanga has been considered one of the top contenders in ONE’s women’s atomweight division for the past few years, with “The Menace” living up to her fighting moniker as she rose up the ranks, claiming the scalps of the likes of Jihin Radzuan and Mei Yamaguchi along the way.
A pair of decision defeats to South Korean star Seo Hee Ham slowed her momentum, but Zamboanga claimed back-to-back wins over Heqin Lin and Julie Mezabarba to earn a shot at the atomweight title held by Stamp Fairtex.
Zamboanga was initially booked to challenge Stamp at ONE 166 in March 2024, but the fight was pushed back to ONE 167 two months later. Then, with the Filipina primed and ready for the biggest fight of her career, Stamp was forced out of the contest with a knee injury.
Zamboanga defeated replacement opponent Noelle Grandjean to keep her momentum going, but championship gold still eluded her.
With Stamp ruled out for an extended period, ONE officials decided to introduce an interim atomweight title, and booked Zamboanga and Ukraine’s Rassohyna to face off for the vacant belt at ONE Fight Night 25 last October. But, once again, the fight was cancelled.
Zamboanga would not be denied, however, and at ONE Fight Night 27 she finally got her title shot at Thailand’s iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
And, on an emotional night for the 27-year-old, Zamboanga claimed championship gold with a second-round TKO finish, with a volley of elbows from side control securing the stoppage victory.
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Zamboanga let her hands go early as she looked to overwhelm Rassohyna with strikes in the opening round. But the Ukrainian quickly turned to her bread and butter, her grappling, as she shot in and took “The Menace” to the mat.
Zamboanga did well to avoid submission trouble on the mat towards the end of Round 1. Then, in Round 2, it looked like a carbon copy of the opening frame as once again Zamboanga game out striking, only for Rassohyna to shoot for a takedown once again.
However, this time Zamboanga avoided being caught on the bottom and instead managed to work her way into side control, with Rassohyna on her back. Once she’d established a dominant position, Zamboanga let rip with a vicious succession of elbows until referee Herb Dean decided he’d seen enough and waved off the contest at the 4:47 mark.
After Zamboanga was crowned interim champion, she was joined in the ring by atomweight queen Stamp as they shared some photos together. The pair will likely face off in a title unification battle later this year, once Stamp is fully fit and ready to return to action.
ONE Fight Night 27: Official results
- Akbar Abdullaev def. Tang Kai via TKO – Round 5, 1:21
- Kulabdam def. John Lineker via unanimous decision – Muay Thai
- Denice Zamboanga def. Alyona Rassohyna via TKO – Round 2, 4:47 – for interim women’s atomweight MMA title
- Luke Lessei def. Cody Jerme via TKO – Round 1, 2:00 – Muay Thai
- Dante Leon def. Tommy Langaker via unanimous decision – submission grappling
- Sanzhar Zakirov def. Tatsumitsu Wada via unanimous decision
- Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu def. Aaron Canarte via submission (Kimura) – Round 1, 3:43
- Meng Bo def. Chihiro Sawada via unanimous decision
- Dmitrii Kovtun def. Suablack via unanimous decision – Muay Thai
