Stamp Fairtex has opened up on the painful decision to relinquish her ONE atomweight MMA title – and says she did it to protect both her health and the division.
The 27-year-old was due to defend her belt against Denice Zamboanga at ONE’s planned US return in Denver on August 1, but withdrew due to her ongoing recovery from knee surgery.
Rather than hold up the division, Stamp said she made the call to step aside – allowing her friend and now-undisputed champion Zamboanga to stay active and move forward with her career.
“If I keep the belt, she will always have to wait for me,” Stamp told the Bangkok Post. “She’s the interim and I’m the champion, so she would not have the chance to fight the other people. I think it’s fair to let her be out there and fight the other opponents.”
“It’s sad to give it to her, but it’s really good to give it to my friend so she can fight with everyone,” she added. “ONE asked me if I wanted to step down and give the belt to Denice, so I agreed to that – because I haven’t fought for almost two years.”
Stamp said the decision was already on her mind, even before she was approached by the promotion.
“I knew I had to give the belt to Denice before they announced it and before Chatri [Sityodtong, ONE CEO] talked to me,” she said. “Because everyone wants a belt. If everything was 100 per cent, I would just fight her.”
While stepping aside was a selfless move, the Thai star admitted it was not easy to let go of a title she fought so hard to win.
“My emotion was really, really not OK. I felt like I trained really hard to get the belt, and now it’s really easy to just give it away,” she said. “I told myself, ‘OK, it’s not my day. I have to get everything back 100 per cent, then go in the ring.’”
Stamp is backing Zamboanga to hold her own in the spotlight – and listed several contenders who could test the newly promoted champion.
“I think everyone is good for her – Ayaka Miura, Ham Seo Hee,” she said. “She lost to Ham twice, but I think Ham is No 1 for a rematch with her, and then Ayaka, and maybe Xiong Jingnan, because she came to atomweight already.”
As for her own absence, Stamp said her knee has not yet recovered fully, and that rushing back would only risk reinjury.
“My injury is improving but it hasn’t got to the level I can fully go back to training and fighting,” she said. “If I fight, maybe it’s gonna hurt more, so I wanted to take more time until everything was 100 per cent first.”
She also pulled out of a separate kickboxing bout in May, and said she was simply not ready to return.
“I had to cancel because everything was not 100 per cent. I was scared I was going to get hurt again,” she said. “Everyone said you have three or four months, but in those months I would have to train hard, not only half. So I decided to just step down from being the champion.”
The 27-year-old was due to defend her belt against Denice Zamboanga at ONE’s planned US return in Denver on August 1, but withdrew due to her ongoing recovery from knee surgery.
Rather than hold up the division, Stamp said she made the call to step aside – allowing her friend and now-undisputed champion Zamboanga to stay active and move forward with her career.
“If I keep the belt, she will always have to wait for me,” Stamp told the Bangkok Post. “She’s the interim and I’m the champion, so she would not have the chance to fight the other people. I think it’s fair to let her be out there and fight the other opponents.”
“It’s sad to give it to her, but it’s really good to give it to my friend so she can fight with everyone,” she added. “ONE asked me if I wanted to step down and give the belt to Denice, so I agreed to that – because I haven’t fought for almost two years.”
Stamp said the decision was already on her mind, even before she was approached by the promotion.
“I knew I had to give the belt to Denice before they announced it and before Chatri [Sityodtong, ONE CEO] talked to me,” she said. “Because everyone wants a belt. If everything was 100 per cent, I would just fight her.”
While stepping aside was a selfless move, the Thai star admitted it was not easy to let go of a title she fought so hard to win.
“My emotion was really, really not OK. I felt like I trained really hard to get the belt, and now it’s really easy to just give it away,” she said. “I told myself, ‘OK, it’s not my day. I have to get everything back 100 per cent, then go in the ring.’”
Stamp is backing Zamboanga to hold her own in the spotlight – and listed several contenders who could test the newly promoted champion.
“I think everyone is good for her – Ayaka Miura, Ham Seo Hee,” she said. “She lost to Ham twice, but I think Ham is No 1 for a rematch with her, and then Ayaka, and maybe Xiong Jingnan, because she came to atomweight already.”
As for her own absence, Stamp said her knee has not yet recovered fully, and that rushing back would only risk reinjury.
“My injury is improving but it hasn’t got to the level I can fully go back to training and fighting,” she said. “If I fight, maybe it’s gonna hurt more, so I wanted to take more time until everything was 100 per cent first.”
She also pulled out of a separate kickboxing bout in May, and said she was simply not ready to return.
“I had to cancel because everything was not 100 per cent. I was scared I was going to get hurt again,” she said. “Everyone said you have three or four months, but in those months I would have to train hard, not only half. So I decided to just step down from being the champion.”
