Drex “T-Rex” Zamboanga made waves in his ONE Championship debut when he submitted Detchadin “Detchpool” Sornsirisuphathin in the second round of their clash at ONE: A NEW BREED in August. The win put him on the map of the flyweight division, a weight class filled with sharks from top to bottom, but he is making his intentions known to the world.
“Being a champion from the Philippines, I want nothing more than to represent my country well,” Zamboanga said.
“That’s the reason why I’m here. ONE Championship has some of the best flyweights in the world and I want to test myself against them and maybe one day win a World Title.”
To get there, he will have to battle the biggest names in the promotion, some of whom are his compatriots.
Sitting comfortably in the second spot of the flyweight rankings is Team Lakay’s Danny “The King” Kingad, and former World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio is also planning to make a run back to the top.
Filipino-Australian Reece “Lightning” McLaren is in the mix as well, as he is slated to battle Aleksi “The Giant” Toivonen at ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES on 9 October.
This makes the road to the top a tough climb for Zamboanga.
“There are a lot of great talents in the flyweight division. Many of them are fellow Filipino fighters. I don’t see any issues facing my countrymen, it’s natural in combat sports,” Zamboanga said.
“This is sports entertainment, and our job is to put on a show for the people. It’s a sport, so we go into the Circle to showcase our martial arts skills—simple as that. We can still be friends after.”
Zamboanga doesn’t yet have a date for his second appearance in ONE, but if you ask him, it pays to be ready.
“We don’t have any fights lined up at the moment,” he said. “But even then, we can’t take our foot off the pedal. We should be prepared at all times, because that call can come at any time.”
In the meantime, catch ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES on October 9 for free by downloading the ONE Super App.