Former UFC World Women’s Bantamweight Champion and current ONE Championship Vice President Miesha Tate showered heaps of praises for Denice Zamboanga in a recent interview with South China Morning Post.
Zamboanga is currently the no. 1-ranked atomweight in ONE, sitting just below reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee. And she has been on an absolute tear since joining the promotion in 2019.
The world has certainly taken notice, since Zamboanga has quickly become one of the most popular fighters in ONE.
“Denice, I know I’ve mentioned her before already, but if you haven’t watched her fight. I’m a huge fan of her. I love her tenacity. I feel like I see a little bit of Angela in her when she used to fight, like even myself – I see little bits of that in her. She’s her own woman and her own fighter. She has that something special as well, and I really think she’s going to go places,” said Tate.
“So Denice is somebody I think everybody should keep their eyes on. I think she has a very bright future.”
Also heaping praise from Tate was Zamboanga’s good pal Stamp Fairtex.
Stamp is a two-sport ONE World Champion and is currently transitioning to mixed martial arts.
Tate believes both Zamboanga and Stamp could perform very well in the highly-anticipated ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix when the tournament commences in 2021. The winner, of course, will go on to face Lee for the atomweight world belt.
“Stamp Fairtex, I know that she lost her kickboxing and Muay Thai titles recently, and I kind of maybe fault that a little bit to her transition to MMA. Maybe she hasn’t been able to stay as sharp in the striking, [but] that’s to be expected. However, her MMA game is really good. It has exceeded all my expectations,” said Tate.
“When I watch her fight, she has amazing fight instincts – on the ground and in the wrestling department. She doesn’t make mistakes. She just automatically knows what to do. She’s just a good athlete, a great athlete. So I’m excited to also see what Stamp does, curious to see if she will be part of the Grand Prix. I hope so. I’d love to see her and Angela fight someday.”
Tate is a pillar of women’s mixed martial arts. She brought attention to the sport with her high-profile rivalry with fellow legend Ronda Rousey.
Today, she’s a full-time mother and a high-level executive in the world’s largest martial arts organization.
Tate firmly believes that there are a lot of women out there just waiting for their break.
“Honestly, I think a lot of the women have yet to be discovered.”
