ONE Championship: Stamp Fairtex digs deep to turn tables on Alyona Rassohyna and move into grand prix semi-finals
- Young Thai star takes split decision after tense battle to avenge loss to Ukrainian in January
- Stamp’s work on takedown defence and ground game saves the day – and keeps her hopes alive
Stamp Fairtex found herself fighting for survival as the clock ticked down in her ONE Championship atomweight grand prix quarter-final on Friday night’s Empower card, locked in an arm bar that had Alyona Rassohyna on the verge of sending the Thai fighter crashing out of the tournament.
But the 23-year-old Stamp (6-1) twisted and turned and worked her way out, and she stood tall as time ran out to take a split decision over the Ukrainian (13-5) that saw the former Muay Thai and kick-boxing champ drop to her knees – and the tears immediately flowing.
“I’m quite satisfied with the result but not with how I performed,” Stamp said after the fight. “However I think in the future I possibly want to repeat a rematch with Alyona again.”
These two had previous dating back to the Unbreakable 3 card in January and a clash that saw Stamp in total control right up to the moment – with just seven seconds left on the clock in the last round – that Rassohyna laid on a guillotine that saw the Thai fighter called for a tap.
Stamp has claimed ever since that she didn’t. At all.
And the Thai came to Singapore saying she had used the lingering resentment about losing her unbeaten status in MMA as motivation. There had also been the losses of both her atomweight Super Series titles in the past year to add a little more fuel to the fire.