ONE Championship chairman and chief executive officer Chatri Sityodtong went to social media to express his thoughts on the historic Empower card and his opinion on the highly controversial Atomweight World Grand Prix bout between Denice Zamboanga and Seo Hee Ham.
Sityodtong, who is also a martial arts practitioner, shared that he too thought that the 24-year-old Filipina won against the 34-year-old South Korean.
But he also understood the decision of two of the three judges to score the bout in favor of Ham.
Photo from ONEFC.com
“I thought Denice Zamboanga (8-1) edged out Seo Hee Ham (24-8) for the victory in a super close fight,” he said.
“While I disagree with the judges on this one, I can understand why they scored the bout for Ham.”
The sportsman went on to explain that though Zamboanga dominated the ground game — which was the majority of the bout, it was Ham who landed the cleaner shots in the standup.
During the bout, Zamboanga had dominant position when the fight was on the ground but hardly attempted any submission attempts and connected on just short shots.
Photo from ONEFC.com
“It was a very close fight with Ham landing the cleaner, heavier punches with damage, and Denice controlling the cage work, takedowns, and ground action,” he continued.
Despite the loss, Sityodtong re-affirmed his stance that Zamboanga should face reigning ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee one day.
For the time being, the rankings are frozen due to the grand prix and that Zamboanga still remains as the number one contender.
“Despite the loss, I definitely want to see Denice versus Angela for the world title!”
Lee, who has been inactive since October of 2020, is expected to be back by February.
Zamboanga continues to hold on to Sityodtong’s promise to her.
“For me, even before, nag-iintay pa rin talaga ako, umaasa pa rin ako kasi sabi nila na bibigay nila sa akin si Angela Lee,” she said.
“Up until now, I’m still waiting for that chance.”
