The last champion of the division, Angela Lee, has taken a leave of absence since the tragic suicide of her younger sister Victoria Lee. This fight was originally for interim gold until, moments before Stamp and Ham walked out, Angela Lee laid down the belt in the cage as she announced her retirement, putting it up for grabs in the fight. Stamp had a big opportunity here to continue growing her already prodigious star power which she earned by being ONE’s first two-sport champion. The most famous female nak muay in the world saw a big boost to her global profile after a big win at ONE’s first US event earlier in 2023 and getting her hands on gold in this event set another historical landmark by becoming the first three-sport champion in ONE Championship history, with belts in Muay Thai, kickboxing, and now MMA.

Ham came out southpaw against the orthodox Stamp, they hand-fought with their lead hands for a while. The first attacks were Stamp leg kicks, which Ham avoided. It was a cagey start to the fight, with only singular strikes being thrown. Stamp started moving higher with her kicks, with a few good body kicks, one of which she landed a right hand off of. The referee warned them for inaction but they still had trouble opening up, perhaps due to the open stance matchup. Ham began to land with her left hand a bit after that. With just under a minute left the Chinese fighter landed her best punch yet, a left hand that caught Stamp off-balance. Stamp responded with body kicks to end a close round, though MMA fights in ONE are not scored round-by-round but as a whole.

Stamp opened round two with more body kicks after her corner recognized that as her best strike and told her to use it more. With three minutes left in the round the fight’s first clinch was initiated by Stamp as she looked to use her Muay Thai skills, just missing an elbow. Stamp’s pace increased around that point as she let go of her right hand more and the excitement factor got to a level that the referee felt was acceptable. Suddenly Ham turned the tables with a big left hand that sat down her foe; she jumped on top in Stamp’s full guard. Ham was unable to do much from top position until the end of the round when she started to open up with ground and pound, but that left room for Stamp to throw up an armbar. Ham tried to stand up but the armbar was tight, but the bell got her out of the position.

The third round started with Ham marching forward but soon Stamp Fairtex landed a body shot that clearly made Ham uncomfortable and sent her backpedaling. When Stamp realized she had a hurt opponent in front of her she pressed down on the gas and swarmed Ham. A few shots upstairs and one big body shot sent her to the canvas in a turtle position, and the referee stepped in after one more unanswered shot.

With this result, Stamp Fairtex solidified her place in history as she became a three-sport world champion, a truly unique accomplishment. The former champion, Angela Lee, embraced her in the center of the cage as she passed her belt on to her former opponent. Stamp brought out her English for the post-fight interview, declaring this experience to be “f*cking amazing.” In a sweet moment she said that Angela was her idol and she always looked up to her.

Official Result: Stamp Fairtex def. Seo Hee Ham by TKO (body punch), Round 3, 1:04

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Lee, 27, recently opened up about her 2017 car crash, widely publicized at the time, actually being the result of a suicide attempt. Additionally, she confirmed what was known to many close to the sport: that the tragic death of her sister, fellow ONE Championship fighter Victoria Lee, last December, was also the result of suicide.

Victoria Lee was just 18 years old.

In a video package played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and live on Saturday’s Amazon Prime Video broadcast, Lee introduced Fight Story, a non-profit founded in Victoria’s honor, with a goal of assisting those with mental health struggles.

Calling the past year the hardest of her life, Lee told the crowd in Singapore that she was doing her best to “pick up the pieces and move forward, slowly.” Fight Story is no doubt part of that progress.

“Fight Story was created because of my sister Victoria. I’m choosing to honor her and her life by moving forward and helping others,” said Lee. “Our mission at Fight Story is to save lives.”

Lee, known in her fighting career by the nickname “Unstoppable,” then laid her belt down in the cage. “I’m here today to officially announce my retirement. It has been an incredible eight years, and I just want to say thank you to the fans, to ONE Championship, to Chatri, to my teams, to just everyone.”

Her final message may have been her most poignant. “The greatest battle we will ever face won’t be with an opponent standing in front of us. The greatest battle will be within ourselves. We all go through struggles, but we all fight. And each day, we are victorious when we choose to rise up in the face of adversity.”

Lee’s rise through ONE Championship began in 2015, when she made her pro debut with the company she would spend her entire career with. She would go on a stellar 9-0 run, hitting a Twister submission in just her third pro fight. Her first eight fights would end inside the distance; she won the ONE atomweight title in 2016, and immediately defended that belt three times.

In 2019, Lee would move to strawweight for a failed bid at a second title against Xiong Jing Nan, and stuck around the division only to incur another loss. Moving back to atomweight, she defeated China’s Xiong in the pair’s second meeting, for Lee’s own championship belt, then submitted Stamp Fairtex, winner of the ONE atomweight grand prix, last year.

Lee’s final fight came in October of 2022, when she lost a unanimous decision against Xiong in the pair’s rubber match, also at strawweight. As a result, Angela Lee finishes her MMA career as the reigning ONE Championship atomweight title holder, and undefeated in the atomweight division.

Outside of her own MMA career, Lee married fellow ONE fighter Bruno Pucci in 2018. The couple have a daughter born in 2021.

The winner of ONE Fight Night 14’s main event between Ham Seo Hee and Stamp Fairtex, meanwhile, would now become the undisputed ONE atomweight champion.

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The winner of Friday’s promising 135lb affair would be in prime position to face champ Fabricio Andrade, who had faced Lineker on two consecutive occasions before finally claiming the ONE bantamweight belt.

Loman opened Friday’s action (or Saturday locally in Singapore if you prefer) with some spinning action, but appeared wary of Lineker’s obvious advantage, his power. When he could plant his feet, Lineker chucked right hands, one after another after another. Just over a minute in, Loman then changed things up, blasting into a takedown and landing it.

Going to work in half-guard, Loman went body-head repeatedly, and found space to drop a few elbows. Lineker would work his way to the fence, looking to post up and power out of a bad spot. Loman stayed on him, however, and eventually dragged him back down, briefly taking the back. John Lineker had other ideas, reversing and getting on top for a minute before Loman scrambled to the fence, and then back to his feet.

The remainder of the round would play out on the feet, though Lineker caught a kick and nearly dumped his opponent at one point.

Round two found Lineker walking his opponent down, looking to close the distance and get in range. Loman played with fire a bit, firing a spinning kick that was nearly caught. He also chopped at Lineker’s legs, flashed a takedown that he tought better of, then went high with another kick. That in turn led to a clash of heads, with Lineker getting the worst of it, but he was okay to fight on.

Just past the midway mark of the round, however, an eye poke also absorbed by Lineker halted the action. He took less than a minute to recover, then the pair got going again, trading immediately off the restart. Loman would eventually shoot, but was too far out. At the same time, keeping his distance management on point kept him out of range of Lineker’s power. The Brazilian walked Loman down at the end of the round, while ref Herb Dean urged the pair to keep fighting.

in the top half of the third, Lineker avoided another takedown attempt. But it was Loman who took over leading the dance, pressing forward, walking towards Lineker. Another foul followed, the third from Loman, as Lineker was hit low. That completed an unfortunate trifecta for Stephan Loman, with the earlier head butt and eye poke. Lineker was good to continue, however.

In the final two minutes, Loman went hard after a takedown. But he put himself out of position and off-balance doing so, and allowed Lineker to get on top. Loman scrambled out however, negating any advantage Lineker may briefly have had. “Hands of Stone” was still taking some big swings, but couldn’t connect with anything significant. Certainly not anything fight-ending. Loman tried for another takedown, and Lineker played matador, raising his arms and waving his opponent in. They would fight it out to the bell, hug it out, then head to the scorecards — with Lineker coming away with a unanimous decision win.

Official Result: John Lineker def. Stephan Loman by unanimous decision

The post John Lineker Can’t Connect with KO Power, Still Claims Decision Over Stephan Loman at ONE Fight Night 14 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Leading the way was an interim women’s atomweight championship fight featuring former title challenger and grand prix winner Stamp Fairtex, taking on ex-RIZIN champ Seo Hee Ham. The fight came in the wake of Angela Lee’s sabbatical from the sport, following the death of sister Victoria, and with no surety as to when or if “Unstoppable” Lee would return.

In the co-main event, Smilla Sundell put her strawweight Muay Thai title on the line against Allycia Rodrigues, while the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling championship would be awarded when Danielle Kelly faced Jessa Khan in a rematch of their 2021 meeting, which Khan won via decision.

ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham takes place on Friday, September 29 (Sat. Sept 30 local time in Singapore), airing live in North America on Amazon Prime Video starting at 8PM ET. Full results can be found below.

ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham Results

Stamp Fairtex def. Ham Seo Hee by TKO, Round 3, 1:04 — for the vacant ONE interim women’s atomweight champoinship
Smilla Sundell (c) def. Allycia Hellen Rodrigues by TKO, Round 3, 2:58 — for the ONE women’s strawweight Muay Thai championship
Danielle Kelly def. Jessa Khan by unanimous decision — for the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling championship
Xiong Jing Nan def. Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak by TKO, Round 3, 2:42— special rules bout
John Lineker def. Stephen Loman by unanimous decision
Dmitry Menshikov def. Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong by knockout, Round 1, 2:41 — Muay Thai
Eduard Folayang def. Amir Khan by knockout, Round 3, 1:57
Mauro Cerilli def. Paul Elliott by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 1, 5:00
Asa Ten Pow def. Rambolek Chor Ajalaboon by knockout, Round 3, 0:25 — Muay Thai
Maurice Abevi def. Blake Cooper by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 4:36

The post ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Lineker (36-10, 1NC) has certainly had his ups and downs since joining ONE Championship in 2019. He immediately went on a four-fight win streak that saw him capture the promotion’s bantamweight crown, though his progress was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Then, ahead of his first title defense last October, Lineker missed weight, and was stripped of his crown. The fight, which did move forward, saw Lineker illegally kneed by Fabricio Andrade, necessitating a rematch that Lineker lost. He bounced back just last month with a win over Kim Jae-Woong, but again missed weight for the bout.

Ahead of the Loman fight at ONE Fight Night 14 in Singapore, Lineker told Cageside Press that it’s hydration, not weight, that he’s really struggling with. ONE Championship requires athletes to not only make weight but pass hydration tests ahead of their fights, limiting the amount of weight an athlete can cut. It’s part of an effort to curb extreme weight cutting in response to the death of ONE fighter Yang Jian Bing in 2015, the result of a weight cut gone wrong.

“The weight itself has not been a problem. The problem we had was with hydration, and we definitely have tackled this in a different manner this time around,” Lineker said during a virtual press conference on Tuesday. “I’m confident this will no longer be a small issue.”

Whether you consider being stripped of the title a small issue or not, it will be interesting to see how Lineker does at the scale this week. Critics of ONE Championship’s hydration program have argued it’s too easy to game, but an athlete like Lineker struggling to make weight in an odd way might be a sign of success— he simply hasn’t been able to consistently cut the weight necessary to hit the limit while remaining hydrated.

The fight against Loman, meanwhile, sees Lineker continue his climb back to the top. “We all start from the bottom somewhere, and we have to fight to get to the top. And I think this fight will be another great challenge for me, and I’m really looking forward to it,” Lineker said on that front.

Asked when he discovered that his power was something special — Lineker is named “Hands of Stone” after all — the Brazilian responded by saying that “well, it’s a difficult question to answer. I guess it’s how I was born, it’s natural. And then throughout the fights I kept finding out more and more about my talent, my gift, and kept working towards it.”

Watch the full ONE Fight Night 14 virtual press conference with John Lineker and Stephan Loman above.

The post Ahead of ONE Fight Night 14, John Lineker Says Hydration, Not Weight, Has Been “Small Issue” appeared first on Cageside Press.

It’s a lot more than a high-level atomweight fight: interim gold is on the line, with the status of champ Angela Lee very much up in the air.

On paper, the clear edge in MMA experience goes to South Korea’s Ham, who has fought in the UFC, ROAD FC, and RIZIN FF. Thailand’s Stamp was a two-sport champion, in Muay Thai and kickboxing, but Ham holds a record of 26-8 and was the reigning RIZIN atomweight champion prior to the coronavirus pandemic. That experience, she told Cageside Press during a virtual press conference on Wednesday, gives her an advantage.

“I believe all jobs require strong experience, and especially for MMA, I have abundant experience doing MMA fights. A lot more than Stamp,” Ham stated. “That’s why I feel I have a very strong advantage in this fight against Stamp, because I have a lot more experience in MMA fights.”

Winning gold in another major promotion, meanwhile, would be extremely fulfilling for the former RIZIN star. As she put it, “if I were to win the ONE Championship title, that would be everything I was looking for in life.”

Of course, the belt on the line this Friday is an interim title. No one could have foreseen the tragedy that shocked the MMA world last year when 18-year old Victoria Lee took her own life, leading sister Angela (and brother Christian, also a ONE Championship title holder) to step away from the sport.

Angela Lee recently opened up about her own suicide attempt, dating back to 2017, and when and if she returns to the sport is unclear. But if she does, Ham hopes to book a date with her.

“If I were to win this ONE Championship title, of course I would love to have a match-up with Angela Lee,” Ham stated on Wednesday. “And that’s only if she’s coming back to the sport.”

Watch the full ONE Fight Night 14 virtual press conference with Seo Hee Ham and Stamp Fairtex above.

The post ONE Fight Night 14: Seo Hee Ham Believes Experience Gives her “Strong Advantage” Against Stamp appeared first on Cageside Press.

A former title holder in both Muay Thai and Kickboxing, Stamp (10-2), still just 25, faces UFC vet Seo Hee Ham for interim atomweight gold in Singapore. The interim title comes about as Angela Lee remains absent from the sport in the wake of sister Victora’s tragic passing last December, and the recent admission that Angela Lee herself tried to take her own life.

It was Lee that Stamp Fairtex faced in her first shot at gold, having won the promotion’s atomweight grand prix in 2021. The following year, Stamp faced Lee, only to be submitted in the second round.

In terms of what she can apply from that first title experience to her upcoming fight with Ham, Stamp told Cageside Press during a virtual press conference on Wednesday that some of it comes down to emotional control. But the fight with Lee also showed the two-sport champ she needed to focus more on MMA as a whole.

“From the previous fight I had with Angela Lee, it made me focus more on MMA,” said Stamp. “I train more with BJJ, and also, back then I was too nervous. That made me learn that from now on, I can control myself emotionally — more stable to be ready for the fight.”

Carrying the name of the famed Fairtex gym with her, Stamp made her U.S. debut earlier this year. It certainly went over well with fans, with the Thai star proving to be one of the most popular fighters in Denver, Colorado this past May, at ONE Championship’s first-ever U.S. show.

She’s noticed an uptick in interest ever since. “I got more followers on my Instagram, now I’ve got almost 700,000 followers. It’s really good to know I’ve got followers from the other side of the world,” said Stamp.

The decorated striker is also open to training in the U.S. further. “If I have a chance to go to the U.S. again, I would love to. Of course I enjoy training with the local women athletes, they’re very experienced, and I would learn more from them.”

Later, Stamp touched on what was most difficult her as she made the transition from pure striking to mixed martial arts.

“I think the most challenging thing for me to transition from the first two, Muay Thai and kickboxing, to MMA, it would be I had to train more BJJ and takedowns. Harder than usual. Normally I train really, really hard, now I had to train harder than usual.”

Watch the full ONE Fight Night 14 virtual press conference with Stamp Fairtex and Seo Hee Ham above.

The post ONE Fight Night 14: First Title Fight with Lee Showed Stamp She Needed to Up Training in MMA appeared first on Cageside Press.

Promotion officials announced recently that Ham (26-8) and Stamp (10-2) will face off at ONE Fight Night 14 on September 1, 2023.

The match-up had previously been revealed by ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who suggested that Angela Lee, the current undisputed ONE women’s atomweight champ, might be done fighting after the untimely death of sister Victoria. Sityodtong did not reveal the date/location of the bout at that time, however.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨 Stamp Fairtex and Ham Seo Hee will fight for the Interim ONE Atomweight World Title in the main event of ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video 👑 Who takes it?#ONEFightNight14 | Sep 1 at 8PM ET
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch Live on Prime
🌍 Live TV broadcast in 170+ countries pic.twitter.com/CetL8E55G0

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 22, 2023

ONE Fight Night 14 will air on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and Canada. No location or venue has been officially announced for the September card.

Ham has not lost a fight since parting ways with the UFC in 2016. Since exiting that promotion and returning to the atomweight division, Ham has won nine straight fights, capturing the ROAD FC atomweight and RIZIN Super Atomweight championships in the process.

She’ll be hunting for a third title against Fairtex, who has held gold in ONE Championship in both kickboxing and Muay Thai, and continues to pursue a third belt in MMA. Most recently, she earned a Performance of the Night bonus after stopping Alyse Anderson with a body kick at ONE Fight Night 10 in Colorado, the promotion’s debut on U.S. soil.

The post Seo Hee Ham vs. Stamp Fairtex Interim Atomweight Title Fight Announced for ONE Fight Night 14 appeared first on Cageside Press.