“Thanks for sharing the Circle” - Noelle Grandjean has all the love for Denice Zamboanga after ONE 167 duel

It's all love between Noelle Grandjean and Denice Zamboanga following their classic back-and-forth at ONE 167. Grandjean faced Zamboanga on short notice, nevertheless, she showed an intense resolve that pushed the number two women's atomweight MMA contender the whole three rounds.

Zamboanga, however, was far too powerful for Grandjean and ultimately took the unanimous decision victory this past weekend at Impact Arena.

Taking to the comments section on Instagram, Grandjean gave props to Zamboanga for nearly choking her out with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their match.

Noelle Grandjean wrote:

"Good job Denice, thanks for sharing the Circle kaa 👑."

Ever the good sport, Zamboanga bounced back with the same appreciation for her opponent.

"Thank you ka 💕"

"Ka" is a Thai expression that women use at the end of their sentences and always denotes that the speaker is giving her respect to the one receiving the message.

Zamboanga, who trained for several years in Thailand, was supposed to challenge close friend and former training partner Stamp Fairtex for the ONE women's atomweight MMA world title in the main event of ONE 167.

Stamp, however, suffered a meniscus tear in her left knee and had to pull out of the match.

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Denice Zamboanga admits setting her friendship with Noelle Grandjean aside was a bit awkward

Denice Zamboanga has always been one of the most laidback fighters in ONE Championship, and it's this personality of hers that led her to form close friendships with her fellow athletes in the promotion.

One of her closest friends was Noelle Grandjean, and 'The Menace' admitted she felt awkward setting aside her friendship with the Thai-French star during ONE 167's fight week.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Zamboanga said she still had to do her job even if she was about to pummel her close friend.

She said:

"The fight week was a bit awkward for both of us, but yeah, business is business. We needed to do our job."

Zamboanga ultimately captured the comfortable unanimous decision win and bumped her winning streak to three fights.

Watch Zamboanga's entire interview below: