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Denice Zamboanga's quest for a piece of ONE Championship gold will have to wait another day.
The Filipino star had to pull out of her match against Alyona Rassohyna for the ONE interim women's atomweight MMA world title after she re-aggravated an injured hamstring in training camp.
Zamboanga was supposed to face the division's number four contender at ONE Fight Night 25 on October 4 at the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.
In an interview with The MMA Superfan, Zamboanga said she could've fought through the pain and forced herself to fight. Fighting on a hobbled leg, however, would have proved to be arduous for 'The Menace' and she ultimately decided to pull out of the card.
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Denice Zamboanga said:
"Yeah, I don't want to fight and regret it in the future. I want to be at a hundred percent when I fight."
This wasn't the first time that Zamboanga was supposed to fight for a world title this year.
The 27-year-old was initially scheduled to face close friend and former teammate Stamp Fairtex for the ONE women's atomweight MMA world title in the main event of ONE 167.
Stamp, however, suffered a torn meniscus in training camp. Zamboanga still fought on the card and dominated Noelle Grandjean for the unanimous decision win.
Denice Zamboanga says she's in no condition to fight at the highest level
She may have initially thought of fighting through the injury, but Denice Zamboanga's wiser judgment ultimately led her to sit out her all-important fight against Alyona Rassohyna.
Zamboanga said in the same interview with The MMA Superfan that she's in no shape to fight at the highest level, and that taking on Rassohyna with an injured hamstring would just bring her nothing but trouble:
"But now, during my last camp for the interim championship, my injury got worse so I don't have a choice but to pull out because I can't force it anymore. I'm in no condition to fight at the highest level."
Watch Zamboanga's entire interview below:
