“I paid the price” - Denice Zamboanga says lack of focus on health led to training injury

Filipino atomweight MMA contender Denice Zamboanga believes that in her attempt to put together a winning performance in her scheduled world title fight, she overtrained, leading to a costly injury in training. 'The Menace' was set to vie for the ONE interim atomweight world title at ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 4 in Thailand against Alyona Rassohyna of Ukraine. She, however, had to pull out of it after injuring her hamstring.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, Denice Zamboanga spoke about the injury she sustained, and took responsibility for it.

The 27-year-old T-Rex MMA affiliate said:

"Every fighter undergoes these kinds of challenges. It's just part of a fighter's life, I guess. That's the first thing that came to my mind when I got injured, because of how important this fight is for my career. I felt like I didn't focus enough on proper recovery during my training so I paid the price."

The botched title fight with Rassohyna was the second setback with world title implications for Denice Zamboanga, who was supposed to challenge reigning atomweight queen Stamp Fairtex for the gold back in June. The Thai superstar, however, withdrew two weeks from fight night after tearing her meniscus in training. Zamboanga still competed in June but in a non-title fight against French-Thai fighter Noelle Grandjean, winning by unanimous decision.

Denice Zamboanga still optimistic of realizing world title dreams

A world title shot remains a challenge for Denice Zamboanga but she is staying the course and optimistic of eventually realizing her championship goals under ONE Championship. The Filipino fighter has been in a position for a world title shot for some time now but has seen it not consummated for varying reasons, including injuries.

In the same interview with The MMA Superfan, 'The Menace' spoke about her mindset amid the many stumbling blocks in her world title push, saying:

"I've been through a lot and waited so long for this, I feel like once I get the belt it's going to be so much sweeter. I worked really hard and once it pays off I feel like I'm going to appreciate the moment more."

Denice Zamboanga is currently recovering from a hamstring injury she recently sustained but has vowed to come back stronger and resume her world title quest.