"I like the way she uses her judo skills" - Denice Zamboanga impressed by Noelle Grandjean's grappling game

Denice Zamboanga is set to remain on the ONE 167 card despite the unfortunate news that she received in the build up to fight night. The Filipino megastar and No. 2-ranked contender was set for a huge night in her career as she was lined up to compete in the main event at the Impact Arena.

Challenging Stamp Fairtex for the ONE atomweight world championship would have been the biggest fight of her career to date. When Stamp was announced to have withdrawn due to an injury in training two weeks ago, it was also announced that Zamboanga would take on a new opponent on that same date.

Stepping in to replace the Thai superstar is another opponent that Zamboanga knows well thanks to their experience as training partners.

Noelle Grandjean provides a different challenge to the opponent that the number one atomweight contender has been preparing for.

In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Denice Zamboanga spoke about Grandjean's game and what she does well:

"We sparred together. All the girls usually spar together. So every MMA training we spar together. When I sparred with her, her striking is really good. Her boxing is nice. But her judo, I like the way she uses her judo skills in our sparring."

See the interview below:

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This fight is still huge for Denice Zamboanga

She may not be able to leave the Impact Arena with the ONE atomweight world championship but June 7 is still a huge date for Denice Zamboanga.

Suffering a defeat to Noelle Grandjean could see her miss out on challenging for the belt once Stamp is ready to make her return from injury. However, beating Grandjean and looking impressive whilst doing it could prove once and for all that she is the rightful challenger.

Zamboanga is happy to remain active by staying on the card but this is no free hit after her previous opponent was unable to make it to the date.

ONE 167 will air live from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 7. Active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action live and for free in U.S. primetime.