Stamp Fairtex has a message for fans worried they may have seen her for the last time in the ONE Championship ring: she’s not done yet.
“OK, remember my words: I don’t think about retiring – even though I’m injured already,” the Thai MMA star told the Bangkok Post. “I want to stop when I should, not because my knee fucked up.”
The 27-year-old is still recovering from knee surgery and admits she’s not yet ready to return to full training.
That rehab timeline forced her to withdraw from a planned title defence against Denice Zamboanga in Denver on August 1, and ultimately led to her decision to relinquish the ONE atomweight MMA world title at the beginning of this month.
But Stamp insisted she’s far from finished.
“I love to fight,” she said. “I love having a lot of fans looking at me. They don’t have me to inspire them now, so I want to show them I can come back after surgery. I won’t give up. I will still come back – again and again. I won’t retire. Don’t worry.”
Stamp said her current focus is on making a full recovery without rushing – and avoiding another surgery on her meniscus, having gone under the knife just over a year ago.
“If it’s only 80 per cent, when I fight again it can hurt again, and I’ll have to go back to surgery, rehab, recovery again,” she said. “I don’t want to waste my time. I want to heal 100 per cent so I don’t have to worry about it at all.”
The former three-sport ONE world champion believes she still hasn’t hit her ceiling and plans to return stronger.
“I think now is not the best version of me. I can improve more than this,” she said. “Once I make a comeback, I’ll be able to reach an even better version of myself and build an even larger fan base.”
A return by the end of 2025 remains her goal, but nothing is guaranteed.“I think this year I can fight – in six months, I can,” she said. “But it’s all up to my knee. I’m really hungry to fight already.”
And when she does get cleared to fight again, the United States is high on her list, with ONE moving the planned event at Ball Arena to June 2026 as a result of her injury.
“I want to go everywhere you know. I want to travel,” she said. “I didn’t know how the weather was in Colorado until I became a fighter and I’m famous, so now I know how it is. “For sure if I can fight again and everything is OK, 100 per cent, I would love to go back to see my fans there.”
“OK, remember my words: I don’t think about retiring – even though I’m injured already,” the Thai MMA star told the Bangkok Post. “I want to stop when I should, not because my knee fucked up.”
The 27-year-old is still recovering from knee surgery and admits she’s not yet ready to return to full training.
That rehab timeline forced her to withdraw from a planned title defence against Denice Zamboanga in Denver on August 1, and ultimately led to her decision to relinquish the ONE atomweight MMA world title at the beginning of this month.
But Stamp insisted she’s far from finished.
“I love to fight,” she said. “I love having a lot of fans looking at me. They don’t have me to inspire them now, so I want to show them I can come back after surgery. I won’t give up. I will still come back – again and again. I won’t retire. Don’t worry.”
Stamp said her current focus is on making a full recovery without rushing – and avoiding another surgery on her meniscus, having gone under the knife just over a year ago.
“If it’s only 80 per cent, when I fight again it can hurt again, and I’ll have to go back to surgery, rehab, recovery again,” she said. “I don’t want to waste my time. I want to heal 100 per cent so I don’t have to worry about it at all.”
The former three-sport ONE world champion believes she still hasn’t hit her ceiling and plans to return stronger.
“I think now is not the best version of me. I can improve more than this,” she said. “Once I make a comeback, I’ll be able to reach an even better version of myself and build an even larger fan base.”
A return by the end of 2025 remains her goal, but nothing is guaranteed.“I think this year I can fight – in six months, I can,” she said. “But it’s all up to my knee. I’m really hungry to fight already.”
And when she does get cleared to fight again, the United States is high on her list, with ONE moving the planned event at Ball Arena to June 2026 as a result of her injury.
“I want to go everywhere you know. I want to travel,” she said. “I didn’t know how the weather was in Colorado until I became a fighter and I’m famous, so now I know how it is. “For sure if I can fight again and everything is OK, 100 per cent, I would love to go back to see my fans there.”
