ONE Championship: Denice Zamboanga feels ‘disrespected’ as review upholds Ham Seo-hee win

Filipino ‘disappointed’ after not being told decision of ONE’s review of her split decision loss in atomweight grand prix

‘I expected that the official announcement I would hear from them, not just from someone else,’ says the Filipino

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Ham Seo-hee celebrates after defeating Denice Zamboanga in ONE’s atomweight grand prix. Photos: ONE Championship

Published: 4:00pm, 19 Sep 2021Updated: 4:00pm, 19 Sep 2021

Denice Zamboanga has admitted she felt “disrespected” in the wake of ONE Championship’s review into her split decision loss to Ham Seo-hee this month.

ONE’s competition committee upheld the result of the atomweight grand prix quarter-final on September 3’s all-female Empower card in Singapore, which saw the Filipino “Lycan Queen” suffer her first defeat.

The 24-year-old Zamboanga (8-1) has had plenty of support, with the Asian promotion’s boss Chatri Sityodtong, as well as arch rival and divisional champion Angela Lee, both saying they thought she beat the South Korean veteran Ham (24-8).

But ONE chairman and CEO Chatri announced in an interview with the Post that Zamboanga’s defeat would not be overturned, though he did reveal she would face Brazilian Julie Mezabarba (9-2-1) next month in an alternate bout for the grand prix.

“Actually, when my brother sent me the video [of the review result], I felt disrespected,” Zamboanga said on the Combat Sports Weekly podcast with Franco Rulloda. “I expected that the official announcement I would hear from them, not just from someone else.