AS Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga readies herself for the biggest fight of her career, she turns to familiar faces in preparation for her leap of faith.
No less than her brother Drex “T-Rex” Zamboanga and fiance Fritz “Kid Tornado” Biagtan have done their part in pushing Zamboanga to her limits as they train ahead of her monumental clash against Stamp Fairtex at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga at Impact Arena in Bangkok on June 8.
“Of course, sobrang saya ko lalo na kay kuya siya talaga ang kasama ko simula nung nag-start ako,” she said of her training camp at T-Rex MMA Gym.
“Kasama ko siya for this fight, lalo din si Fritz kasi siya yung nagiging strength and conditioning coach ko for this fight. Happy ako na yung dalawang taong importante sa akin is kasama ko.”
Having the two on her corner is vital for Zamboanga in her quest to win the ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Champion.
And she knows that she needs all of this as she braces for the threat of Stamp who has been battle-tested and won six of her last seven fights.
From grappling to striking, Zamboanga can say that Stamp has really improved ten-fold from the last time they trained at Fairtex Gym.
“Halos lahat ng nakalaban niya is grapplers like si Alyona [Rassohyna], Jihin [Radzuan], so she’s really focusing on her takedown defense and her Jiu-jitsu game and yun din ang fino-focus niya on our matchup. But her Muay Thai is also improving dahil kita sa fights niya. I think she improved a lot when it comes to both,” she said.
Understanding that she’s coming in as an underdog, Zamboanga is opting to keep her cards close to her chest as she wants to spring a surprise and show that she, too, has improved immensely.
“Sa tingin ko makikita niyo na lang sa fight namin yung mga improvements ko,” she stated. “Pero sobrang dami kong in-improve ngayon lalo na sobrang tagal kong naghintay for this opportunity kaya we’ll do it all on June 8.”