Denice Zamboanga looking to kickstart 2025 campaign with gold at ONE Fight Night 27: "A big deal for me"

2024 has been a difficult year for Denice Zamboanga, who should have had the biggest 12 months of her career. The Filipino athlete and No. 2-ranked atomweight contender should have already challenged for the world championship, and that's only halfway through the year.

Her highly anticipated main event clash with Stamp Fairtex for the ONE atomweight world championship at ONE 167 was unfortunately canceled. The three-sport queen suffered a significant injury which has kept her out until now, but in her absence, Zamboanga will get the opportunity to prove that she is the next best mixed martial artist in the weight class.

At ONE Fight Night 27, she will face Alyona Rassohyna in the co-main event, where the interim atomweight world title will be on the line.

This clash was originally set to take place at ONE Fight Night 25 in October until Zamboanga was forced to withdraw due to a hamstring injury. The top contender is now looking forward to putting 2024 in the rear-view mirror so that she can move onto bigger and better things in 2025.

She kicks off her campaign for the year on Jan. 10 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. In a recent interview with ABS-CBN, Denice Zamboanga spoke about her motivation to get 2025 underway already:

"It's going to be a big deal for me if I start the year with a win."

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2025 could be the biggest year in the career of Denice Zamboanga

With her interim title fight against Alyona Rassohyna helping to kick off the year, 2025 could be absolutely massive for Denice Zamboanga.

A win in the co-main event of the evening sets her up for a huge title unification clash with Stamp Fairtex once the world champion makes her long awaited return.

For everything that Zamboanga has gone through in 2024, it might all pay off for her the following year if she's able to turn her hard work and dedication into results.