Stamp Fairfax admitted she took inspiration from Tawanchai PK Saenchai for her game plan to beat Ham Seo-hee in Singapore on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Thai stopped Ham in the third round to win the ONE Championship atomweight MMA title, which moments earlier had been vacated by Angela Lee, who announced her retirement at ONE Fight Night 14.She may have finished the fight with a barrage of body shots, but it was a bone bruising kick to the South Korean’s lead left arm that left her unable to defend herself or land her biggest shots.
“I talked to the doctor [after the fight]. I said. ‘Oh, my leg is hurt because I kicked her elbow’, and the doctor said ‘your leg is fine’. But the doctor also said her arm is broken, he said like that, but I think not,” Stamp explained to the Post backstage at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“Because I have Tawanchai,” she added during the post-event media scrum, smiling as she mimicked the ONE featherweight Muay Thai champion’s signature kick that has mangled the limbs of his last two opponents, Davit Kiria and Jamal Yusupov.
Tawanchai will compete again this weekend at ONE Fight Night 15 in Bangkok, as the martial arts organisation makes a quick turnaround.
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The 24-year-old was originally set to make a title defence in the main event against Superbon Singha Mawynn, but the former kickboxing champ had to withdraw injured.He will now face Smokin’ Jo Nattuwat in a three-round kickboxing fight, and Stamp is likely to be there to show her support, having posed for pictures backstage in the media room with her fellow young champion after his first-round stoppage of Yusupov in February.
Stamp, meanwhile, has set her sights on reclaiming her other two belts after becoming the first three-sport champion in the history of ONE.
The mixed martial arts belt completed the set for Stamp at 115lbs, the same division where she previously reigned in kickboxing and Muay Thai, before losing both titles to Janet Todd and Allycia Rodrigues respectively in 2021.
“I have been eyeing this belt for a while since I started training MMA, so I’m very happy I got it. Now I will take back the other two belts,” said Stamp, who has amassed an 11-3 record in MMA since first switching to the sport in ONE in 2019.
“I want to go kickboxing first with Janet Todd. I don’t know when, it’s up to Chatri to give me.”
ONE’s chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong told the Post there are plenty of options for the new face of women’s MMA in his martial arts organisation.
“I would like to see Stamp defend her MMA title before trying to win back the Muay Thai and Kickboxing world titles, but who knows what the future holds,” Chatri said via text message on Saturday.
“Anything can happen because Stamp is now the greatest female combat sports athlete on the planet as the only 3 sport world champion in history.”
An MMA title defence against former training partner and No 3-ranked Filipino Denice Zamboanga could be on the cards, as could a clash with the strawweight champ Xiong Jingnan.
The latter match-up certainly interests China’s Xiong, who won a special rules striking clash against Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak earlier on Saturday’s card.
“Of course I have the feeling we will meet,” Stamp said when asked about fighting Xiong. “In the Circle we are rivals, however out of the cage we are friends.”
