Denice Zamboanga (©ONE Championship)

The new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is not slowing Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga, 23, down. The ONE Championship athlete from the Philippines has left Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya, Thailand and moved to Bangkok, Thailand to pursue her own ventures.

While at Fairtex, Zamboanga trained with ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Stamp Fairtex, Nat “Wondergirl Fairtex” Nutchakamon and Noelle Grandjean. The Filipino mixed martial artist said, “I love my friends at Fairtex.”

“We are very close,” Zamboanga continued. “Even though I am no longer with Fairtex, they are all still my friends (namely) Stamp, Nat, Noelle and all my teammates and coach DJ. I don’t think that bond can be broken.”

Before joining ONE Championship, Zamboanga competed in the Universal Reality Combat Championship, which has been renamed as URCC Global. She is currently training in Bangkok with her brother URCC Global Bantamweight Champion Drex “T-Rex” Zamboanga, 30, and their fellow Filipino MMA fighter Fritz Aldin “Kid Tornado” Biagtan, 25.

“Right now I’m just training here in Bangkok with my brother Drex and our friend Fritz Biagtan,” Denice said. “I’m very lucky because I can still do what I love to do. I just want to stay ready because anytime, I can get called up to compete now that ONE Championship is hosting events here in Thailand.”

ONE Championship successfully returned to its flagship event schedule with “ONE: No Surrender” in Bangkok on July 31, 2020. The Singapore-based martial arts promotion will hold “ONE: No Surrender II” on August 14, 2020 and “ONE: No Surrender III” on August 21, 2020 both in the capital city of Thailand.

Three more ONE Championship events are set to take place in Bangkok which will be on August 28, 2020, September 11, 2020 and September 18, 2020. Holding a professional mixed martial arts record of 4 wins and 0 loss, Denice is hoping to appear on at least one of those cards.

“I really want to fight and compete so I’m just waiting for that call from ONE Championship,” Denice said. “(I) need to stay as sharp as possible because the world title shot is just around the corner. Right now, I need to work on my speed.”

“Speed is a great asset to have in the ring,” Denice continued. “Of course, I’m constantly working on my striking skills and ground game. Thankfully, my brother is here to help me.”

While Denice is fixated on training, she cannot help but feel homesick. She said, “Hopefully, before this year ends and Thailand opens its airports and I can fly back, I can go home to the Philippines.”

“Right now the situation is really complicated,” Denice continued. “I really miss home. This is all just a big test but one test that everyone can get through. I just want to say, ‘Stay strong, everyone. God has a plan and we just have to have faith.'”