“I had to endure the sacrifice” - Denice Zamboanga recalls the sacrifices she had to endure at the start of her MMA career

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Denice Zamboanga when she started to tear through the ONE Championship scene.

The reigning ONE interim women's atomweight MMA world champion recalled that she didn't just need to get better inside the cage, but become a stronger individual outside of it.

In an interview with Atleta Filipina, Zamboanga recalled the soul-crushing homesickness she went through when she first began living and training in Thailand at the start of her ONE Championship career.

Denice Zamboanga said:

"There are a lot of challenges, of course. My first few fights, because I trained in Thailand and away from home without my family, I kept telling myself that I had to endure the sacrifice of being away from them so that I can really develop my skills as a fighter."

While already living abroad for the first time, a global challenge further forced Zamboanga to quickly develop her steely mindset.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down for most of 2020 and 2021, a hurdle that compounded Zamboanga's mental obstacles.

Nevertheless, 'The Menace' persevered and found her way back to the Philippines in 2022 when she joined her older brother Drex's gym, T-Rex MMA in Manila.

Zamboanga, now under the tutelage of her older brother, went on a tear with a four-fight winning streak from 2022 to 2025.

That run culminated in an inspiring second-round stoppage of Alyona Rassohyna for the ONE interim women's atomweight MMA world title at ONE Fight Night 27 in January.

Zamboanga now heads to the biggest fight of her career when she takes on her close friend and ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion Stamp Fairtex, for the division's undisputed crown.

The unification match between the two besties will transpire at ONE 173: Denver on Aug. 1 at Ball Arena.

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Denice Zamboanga recalls how her friendship with Stamp Fairtex started

The world title unification match between close friends Stamp Fairtex and Denice Zamboanga has one of the most wholesome stories in MMA.

Zamboanga and Stamp started as training partners when the Filipino star began training at the famed Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya, Thailand.

Through multiple sparring sessions and dinner dates, the pair developed a close friendship that will have its climactic episode at ONE 173.

Denice Zamboanga said:

"When I started training in Thailand, I trained with her. We were sparring partners - for five five-minute rounds, we were together. There’s a lot of girls there, but we were the ones who were matched up when it came to sparring."

She added:

"After training, we would have dinner together. So our closeness has always been there, and we are close friends."

Watch Zamboanga's entire interview below: