“Soon, I will get that belt” - Filipino star Denice Zamboanga says her shot at the gold will come at the perfect time

Denice Zamboanga has no problems playing the waiting game for her shot at ONE Championship gold. The Filipino star was supposed to challenge close friend and former training partner Stamp Fairtex for the ONE women's atomweight MMA world title at ONE 167.

Stamp, however, suffered a meniscus tear in training and was forced to pull out of the match. Zamboanga remained on the card and will now face Noelle Grandjean this Friday, US primetime, at Impact Arena.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Denice Zamboanga believes it's not yet the perfect time to challenge for the throne and that opportunity would naturally come her way in the near future.

The number two women's atomweight MMA contender said:

"I think it's not God's will now. I think it's not my time yet, because I said in my interview, if this fight will happen it's my time. But if this fight will not happen, I think it's not my time, maybe I'm not ready, maybe I'm not that prepared enough, something like that. But yeah, soon it will come, soon it will I get that belt."

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Denice Zamboanga details the change in her preparation after Stamp pulled out

Getting a sudden change of opponent is never easy, and Denice Zamboanga can attest to that.

Zamboanga told ONE Championship in an interview that she and her team had to make drastic changes after she received word that she'd face Grandjean instead of Stamp in Bangkok.

She said:

"The shift in preparation has been significant. Training for Stamp meant focusing heavily on striking and Muay Thai techniques. With Noelle, I've had to adjust my game plan to focus more on grappling and takedown defense."

ONE 167 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.