ONE stands firm on decision in Zamboanga fight despite official review

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

ONE Fighting Championship retained its decision in the Denice Zamboanga-Seo Hee Ham fight despite an official committee review.

Days after the controversial fight, ONE management decided to call for an official review of the bout with the MMA community buzzing over their decision claiming that the fight should have gone in Zamboanga’s favor.

It was so controversial that even ONE Championship chairman and chief executive officer Chatri Sityodtong took to social media and also gave the fight to the Filipina.

However, in the official committee review, nine out of the 14 members of the panel still awarded the win to Ham.

“These things happen and one of the things that we try really, really hard is to ensure fair play and the integrity of the competition,” Sityodtong said.

With the loss, the tenacious Filipina MMA fighter recorded her first-ever loss and dropped to 8-1 in her professional career.

“I personally had Denice winning the fight. I had Denice winning on cage control, takedowns, and ground action. I can see why the judges scored for Ham. Ham did have the heavier and cleaner punches and did have the damage,” Sityodtong added.