Denice Zamboanga protests ONE loss to South Korean, fight now under review

Filipina mixed martial arts prospect Denice Zamboanga is protesting the outcome of her latest outing against Seo Hee Ham in the quarter-finals of ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix at ONE: Empower which took place last Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Zamboanga, 24, controlled the tempo of the fight for three rounds and scored several takedowns to top it off. After fifteen minutes of action, fans and scribes alike thought the Filipina did more than enough to win the contest only to see the split decision win go the other way.

“For me, I clearly won the fight. It's hard for me to accept the result of this fight. I'm really disappointed I had control for most of the match. I was able to keep up with her striking and was able to negate her power,” said Zamboanga.

“I wasn't bothered by the gash because I knew I was winning. Even though I was bloodied by an accidental headbutt, it didn't matter to me. I was even able to get a takedown in round three and even then, I knew I was winning.”

A couple of days since that fateful evening, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong stepped in and announced that the fight is now officially under review.

“The fight between Denice Zamboanga and Seo Hee Ham is under formal review by the Competition Committee,” Sityodtong wrote on Facebook.

This is not the first time that ONE Championship intervened surrounding a disputed bout. In 2019, Petchmorakot Petchyindee defeated Giorgio Petrosyan only for the fight to be reviewed and eventually overturned.

A rematch took place a couple of months later where Petrosyan was dominant en route to a unanimous decision nod.

—JMB, GMA News