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Stamp Fairtex will not defend her atomweight title in June, nor will she participate in the champion vs. champion fight slated for ONE Championship’s return to the United States in September. The 26-year-old multi-sport champion from Thailand suffered a severe knee injury during one of her final sparring sessions, necessitating surgery.
The injury has sidelined Stamp from her highly anticipated fight against Denice Zamboanga on June 7, as well as her bout against ONE strawweight champion Xiong Jingnan on September 6 in Denver. ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong shared the unfortunate news with MMA Fighting on Monday.
“It’s a sad thing,” Sityodtong said. “One of her final sparring sessions prepping for the big event in a couple of weeks, she blew out her knee. Eighty percent of her meniscus was torn off her knee, and it was on a nasty takedown where her leg got caught. Her knee buckled. She just went for surgery, very successful surgery [on Sunday].”
While the exact timeline for Stamp’s return remains uncertain, Sityodtong has been in touch with the Fairtex team and estimates a six-month recovery period.
Losing Stamp is a significant setback for ONE Championship. The former kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion has quickly become one of the promotion’s fastest-rising stars. Her transition to MMA and her reign as atomweight champion have only increased her popularity.
Stamp’s growing fan base earned her the chance to become a two-division champion and headline ONE’s return to the U.S. in September. Unfortunately, these plans are now canceled, and ONE is searching for a replacement to headline the Denver event. Despite the setback, Sityodtong remains optimistic about the Denver event.
“We haven’t even announced our card, but we have such a stacked card for Denver, 100 percent the event is going to sell out. With zero marketing, we’re more than half sold out, which is mind-boggling to me."
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