MMA News: Is Fighting Angela Lee A Date With Destiny For Stamp Fairtex?

Stamp Fairtex will have an opportunity to earn her third belt in ONE Championship if she defeats Ritu Phogat in the finals of the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix.

The Thai fighter has been a prominent fixture in the promotion as a part of the Muay Thai and kickboxing roster, amassing a record of 63 wins, 17 losses and five draws across her entire kickboxing career.

Her striking game was at such a high level that she became the organization’s first-ever two-sport champion after gaining both the atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing titles.

There was a push from ONE Championship to have her break another boundary and become a three-sport champion, with the third title being in mixed martial arts (MMA).

She made her MMA debut in July 2018 with a head-kick knockout of Rashi Shinde before racking off four straight wins prior to her failed kickboxing title defense against Janet Todd in February 2020.

The 24-year-old kept her MMA win streak going with a TKO victory over Sunisa Srisen in July 2020 but subsequently losing her Muay Thai belt the following month against Brazil’s Allycia Rodrigues.

One could argue that her focus on developing a respectable ground game in MMA became a distraction towards her goals of keeping both titles.

Reigning atomweight queen Angela Lee previously said that she prefers facing Stamp over Filipina standout Denice Zamboanga.

Lee had been angling for a super-fight with Stamp, and she can get her wish if the Thai heroine gets past Phogat on Friday, December 3 at ONE: Winter Warriors.

Phogat has the obvious advantage on the ground thanks to her solid wrestling pedigree, and Stamp needs to keep the fight standing for as long as possible by keeping her at a reasonable distance with her strikes.

Stamp has proven that she can mix it up and maintain a dominant position on the ground, as seen in her unanimous decision victory over Julie Mezabarba.

However, Phogat showed that she can counter most moves from the ground, evidenced by her masterclass against Jenelyn Olsim.

Keeping the fight standing will take a Herculean effort from Stamp, and it is almost inevitable that Phogat will shoot for a takedown.

When she does, Stamp needs to be ready to either fire a knee or an uppercut and hope that it would be enough to crumple Phogat.

A quick finish must be on Stamp’s game plan in order to negate Phogat’s grind-out wrestling style that she utilizes to perfection.