Denice Zamboanga targets ONE Interim Atomweight MMA World title against Alyona Rassohyna
At A Glance
- With the division's queen still recovering from an injury, the Filipina now vies for the ONE Interim Atomweight MMA World Title against Alyona Rassohyna at ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 5, inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga will finally compete for 26 pounds of gold, but it still won’t be against her good friend and ONE Atomweight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex.

With the division’s queen still recovering from an injury, the Filipina now vies for the ONE Interim Atomweight MMA World Title against Alyona Rassohyna at ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 5, inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Zamboanga, the division’s #2-ranked contender, was supposed to meet her pal Stamp for the World Title, but the Thai unfortunately tore her meniscus during training camp. That, sadly, pushed the Zamboang’s title aspirations back yet again.
Instead of waiting for Stamp, though, “The Menace” stayed active and put her contender status on the line against Noelle Grandjean in June. It turned out for the best as Zamboanga dazzled in that match to lay claim as the most deserving challenger for the Thai.
But since Stamp is still recovering, the interim belt was offered to Zamboanga instead. Now she isn’t about to let this chance pass, not when she has already missed plenty of World Title opportunities in the past.
Standing in front of her will be Rassohyna, a fighter who also has a score to settle with the charismatic atomweight queen.
The Ukrainian remains the only fighter to beat Stamp in mixed martial arts. She submitted the Fairtex Training Center star via guillotine choke with seven seconds remaining in their fight.
Stamp evened the score a fight later by taking a decision win, but from the looks of it, the rivalry between the two ladies is far from over.
Against the 34-year-old, Zamboanga will have to watch out for her submission skills. Rassohyna, after all, comes in with 11 submission finishes in 13 wins.
But Zamboanga, 11-2, is certainly prepared for this match, especially since she’s never been close to being submitted in her 13 fights.