PARDON my ongoing fascination with l’affaire Angela Lee and Denice Zamboanga in the dramatic stage of ONE Championship.
But definitely, the last word has not been written on this atomic bomb of an issue in the atomweight class of ONE’s women’s division. And we’re here to catch the latest sparks.
For context, Denice Zamboanga, formerly known as “The Menace,” now called “Lycan Queen,” absorbed the first loss of her brilliant career in last Friday’s ONE: Empower, the history-making, all-female fight card of Asia’s biggest media property. In a tightly fought contest—with Zamboanga showing a ferocity that has been her trademark in the ONE Circle, and her opponent Seo Hee Ham frustrating her attempts at a decisive finish—the judges awarded the win to the South Korean.
Social media erupted with a collective howl. Denice fans shouted “Robbery!” “Hold up!” Others called it a “cooking show.” In the post-fight press conference, Denice, wearing a facemask, couldn’t hold back her tears.
“I’m so speechless right now. For me I clearly won the fight. I can’t accept and I’m disappointed with the judges’ decision,” the former 8-0 record holder said, haltingly, after her untainted slate fell to 8-1.
Her shock and frustration were expressed eloquently by her body language, though her face was veiled conveniently by a mask.
If she could have one wish that night that would offer her a bit of solace, what would it be? “If they can review my fight and re-decide on who really won, that would be great,” she expressed. “She didn’t do anything, I had control. I even took her striking. I can’t believe the outcome.”
MMA fans, mostly Filipino, took the cudgels for Zamboanga online, fighting for her with passion all across cyberspace. The furor over the outcome raged all night long and well into pre-dawn hours. The Lycan Queen proved two things: her fan base was huge, ardent and committed. And women’s MMA was not just an accent in a male-dominated sport. It had arrived.
So loud was the uproar that the next day no less than ONE Founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong said his piece.
“I thought Denice Zamboanga edged out Seo Hee Ham for the victory in a close fight,” Sityodtong said unequivocably. But he also added, “While I disagree with the judges on this one, I can understand why they scored the bout for Ham. It was a very close fight with Ham landing the cleaner, heavier punches with damage and Denice controlling the cage work, takedowns and ground action.”
“Despite the loss, I definitely want to see Denice vs. Angela for the world title!” Sityodtong concluded.
Although she was not at all present in the ring, Angela Lee, the reigning atomweight queen in the ONE universe did not escape the fans’ outrage. Known to have an ongoing verbal battle with the Pinay contender ever since Zamboanga commented that she vacate her belt because she was not in the position to defend it, Lee popped not a few catty remarks herself against Zamboanga. The latest, and the one most remembered by Pinoy fans, was her underhanded dig when she picked Ham to beat Zamboanga in the first round of the Grand Prix.
Quick to douse the fire, ONE Championship announced that the result of the match between Zamboanga-Ham would be placed under formal review by the Competition Committee. At least for now, the fans are appeased and Denice, though still ruing her tainted record, sees a ray of hope.
Wednesday, the Lee siblings—Angela, Christian and Victoria—had an International Media Day where Christian and Victoria, the youngest Lee in the Circle so far, were to talk about their upcoming joint appearance in the next ONE event: Revolution, set on September 24. Angela was there solely to comment on the Zamboanga-Ham fight.
Media wasted no time in asking the reigning champ to comment on the outcome of the fight. “It’s hard to say. It was a close fight. [But it looked like] Denice edging out the victory,” she conceded somewhat. She also said she was most interested in Stamp Fairtex’s and Ritu Phogat’s fortunes in the Grand Prix.
But she was asked a question that brought the beef with Zamboanga up on the surface again. “A champion is supposed to defend the title at least once a year, but you’ve been on a two year vacation already [because of your pregnancy]. Is it because you are the Poster Girl of ONE Championship, that is why you never thought of vacating the title?”
The Champ reiterated her stand. She had worked so hard to get to where she is. She is not going to just have the belt taken away from her. Besides, these are abnormal times, so the at-least-once-a-year-defense rule can be relaxed a bit. She is working on coming back in due time, stronger than ever.
Perhaps ONE does consider Angela Lee to be a special, special star, and we agree. But perhaps ONE is also an organization that truly values women and assures them that women can be women, get pregnant, bear children and still carry on where they left off.
The Empower event was a testament to the value and power of women in male-dominated MMA. Denice Zamboanga can’t wait to prove that against Lee.