Denice Zamboanga (; born 14 January 1997) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

female

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. She is ranked #2 in the ONE Championship Women's Atomweight rankings.

Background

Zamboanga was born and raised in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

, Philippines, and her older brother, Drex, taught her and her three sisters the art of self-defense. When she was 17 years old, she started training in

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

. She would later be called "The Menace."

Mixed martial arts career

Denice Zamboanga made her pro debut in January 2017 and won via knockout in 44 seconds. Zamboanga holds a professional MMA record of 10 wins and 2 losses.

ONE Championship

Zamboanga joined ONE Championship in 2019 as an undefeated MMA fighter. She managed to maintain her perfect record by defeated her first three opponents in the

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

based martial arts organization from 2019 to 2020. On December 6, 2019, Zamboanga made her ONE debut at ONE Championship: Mark Of Greatness, where she defeated Jihin Radzuan by unanimous decision. On February 28, 2020, Zamboanga defeated the heavy favorite

Mei Yamaguchi , formerly known by her ring name , is a Japanese female mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Her former nickname comes from the V1 armlock wrestling move. Yamaguchi currently fights as a lightweight in the Jewels promotion. She has a notable ...

by unanimous decision at ONE Championship: Fire & Fury. On August 28, 2020, she defeated Watsapinya Kaewkhong by submission at ONE Championship: A New Breed.

ONE Atomweight Grand Prix

Zamboanga was one of the eight fighters selected to compete in the inaugural ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix. She faced

Seo Hee Ham Seo Hee Ham ( ko, 함서희 ; born ), written Ham Seo-Hee in Korean order, is a South Korean professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. She is currently signed to ONE Championship, where she is ranked #2 in the ONE Championship Women's Ato ...

in the Grand Prix quarter-finals at ONE Championship: Empower on September 3, 2021. She lost the bout via controversial split decision.

Seo Hee Ham rematch

Zamboanga was scheduled to rematch

at ONE: X on December 5, 2021. Their rematch was later postponed for ONE Championship: X on March 6, 2022. She lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Post-Grand Prix

Zamboanga faced Lin Heqin on December 3, 2022, at ONE on Prime Video 5. She won the fight via split decision and during her post-fight interview she called out her friend and former teammate Stamp Fairtex. Zamboanga faced Julie Mezabarba on April 22, 2023, at ONE Fight Night 9. She won the bout via unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Julie Mezabarba , Decision (unanimous) , ONE Fight Night 9 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, Thailand , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Lin Heqin , Decision (split) , ONE on Prime Video 5 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 440,656 people. Due to its location j ...

, Philippines , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 , Ham Seo-hee , Decision (unanimous) , ONE: X , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Kallang Kallang is a planning area and residential town located in the Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the longest river in Singapore. Kallang Planning Area is bounded by Toa Payoh in the ...

, Singapore , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 , Ham Seo-hee , Decision (split) , ONE: Empower , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Watsapinya Kaewkhong , Submission (keylock) , ONE: A New Breed , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:33 ,

, Thailand , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , ONE: King of the Jungle , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Jihin Radzuan , Decision (unanimous) , ONE: Mark of Greatness , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, Malaysia , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Cho Eun-bi , TKO , URCC Colossal , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Kim Hye-sun , Submission (armbar) , URCC Bets 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Yang Seo-woo , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Gleamon FC 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:09 ,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Coline Biron , Decision (unanimous) , SAFC 33 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Paj Nut , TKO (punches) , SAFC 26 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 ,

, Philippines ,

References

External links

Denice Zamboanga
at ONE * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamboanga, Denice 1997 births Living people Filipino female karateka Filipino female taekwondo practitioners Filipino practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Filipino female mixed martial artists Atomweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Quezon City ONE Championship mixed martial artists