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Denice Zamboanga has had to wait a long time to get her shot at becoming the ONE atomweight MMA world champion.
The opportunity has slipped through her fingers several times and this was once again the case in the build-up to ONE 167.
Her main event clash with the world champion Stamp Fairtex, unfortunately, fell off the card following an injury to the Thai superstar.
Despite being lined up as the next title contender, Zamboanga feels like she still has a point to prove and she will do that by staying on the card.
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The Filipino fighter will still make the walk on June 7 as she faces replacement opponent Noelle Grandjean.
In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Denice Zamboanga spoke about how this fight is all about her defending her spot in the division and proving herself to be worthy of title contender status:
"Like what my fiance told me, I really need to show the world or prove to the world that I'm the No.2-ranked opponent, that I'm the world champion title contender. So I have to prove my skills are better than Noelle's in this fight."
Watch the full interview below:
Denice Zamboanga is happy to remain active
Another important aspect of Denice Zamboanga remaining on this card against a new opponent is the opportunity for her to remain active.
The No.2-ranked atomweight MMA contender has put a lot of work into this clash with Stamp which has now been booked and taken off the schedule several times.
The two former training partners were originally set to meet at ONE 166 in Qatar before the fight was pushed back from March to June.
Rather than waiting on the sidelines for the champion to return, Zamboanga chooses to keep herself fresh and at the same time, put all of her hard work to good use.
ONE 167 will air live from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 7. North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire card for free, live in U.S. primetime.
