ONE Atomweight MMA World Champion Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga is looking at the Ham Seo Hee fights as the biggest turning point of her career and the ones that made her better – regardless of the heartbreaks she experienced in those said fights.
Zamboanga and Ham’s first fight ended in the most controversial fashion with the South Korean eking out a tough split-decision victory that many felt the Filipina deserved to get.
The second fight ended a bit more clearly with Ham convincingly beating Zamboanga via split-decision in the rematch.
Despite those tough results, “The Menace” believes those two fights are still the most pivotal of her career.
“I’ve learned something from every fight, but it was my two losses [against Ham] that taught me the most. At the time, I thought I was already good at this, but those losses were a wake-up call,” Zamboanga said.
“They made me realize I needed to sharpen my skills, address my weaknesses, and keep improving every part of my game. That’s when I grew and started working on myself more as a fighter.”
Since those losses, Zamboanga has racked up four straight wins, including a finish over Alyonna Rassohyna that won her the ONE Interim Atomweight MMA World Title – which later officially made her the undisputed queen of the division.
Ham, on the other hand, made it all the way to the top but fell to Stamp in her last fight.
That’s why while she’s open to a trilogy against Ham and possibly getting one back over her opponent, she knows Ayaka Miura deserves first dibs this time.
“I think there’s a possibility we’ll face each other. But I think she needs to get another win first since she’s coming off a loss,” Zamboanga said.
“Ayaka is ranked higher than her. I’m open to a trilogy fight, but I believe she should secure one more win before we face off again.”
