By CARLO ANOLIN
Filipino mixed martial arts rising star Denice Zamboanga landed spots on ONE Championship’s Top 5 MMA Fighters and Top 5 Breakthrough Fighters of 2020.
ONE Championship put Zamboanga on the No. 3 spot for the Top 5 MMA Fighters of 2020 and gave the No. 2 ranking as one of the breakthrough fighters last year.
Since her ONE Championship debut in 2019, the undefeated Zamboanga racked up three straight wins to put herself in the atomweight picture as the No. 1 contender.
Zamboanga last saw action in the Circle last August in ONE: A New Breed, beating Thai opponent Watsapinya Kaewkhong in Thailand to improve at 5-0 record.
One of the projected plans for Zamboanga is to participate in the upcoming world atomweight grand prix, the inaugural tournament in the division, set early this year.
The 23-year-old Zamboanga is holed up in Bangkok, Thailand training under Marrok Force with her brother Drex.
“With the ONE Atomweight World Grand Prix coming at some point in 2021, Zamboanga will have more opportunities to elevate her profile,” wrote ONE Championship.
Meanwhile, joining Zamboanga in the Top 5 MMA Fighters are middleweight champion Reinier De Ridder (No. 1), featherweight king Thanh Le (No. 2), lightweight titleholder Christian Lee (No. 4), and unscathed Indian rising star Ritu Phohat.
Atomweight muay thai queen Allycia Hellen Rodrigues (No. 1), Wondergirl Fairtex (No. 4), and Yodkaikaew Fairtex (No. 5) were among the Top 5 Breakthrough Fighters alongside Zamboanga (No. 2) and Phogat (No. 3).
