By Kevin Estrada
PASAY — Denice Zamboanga escaped the Mall of Asia Arena with a split decision win over China’s Lin Heqin to open the lead card of ONE Fight Night 5 on Saturday morning.
The Menace returned to Circle with a bang, snapping her two-fight losing skid, both at the hands of South Korea’s Seo Hee-Han, with her total domination in a three-rounder.
Ditching the Lycan Queen monicker proved to be a gamble for the Quezon City fighter, but it paid huge dividends as the third-ranked atom weight fended off the MMA Sister throughout the fight.
Zamboanga wasted little time to assert her authority in the Circle, with a flurry of straight right hands saw Lin staggered a minute into the contest. However, a flash left from the Chinese fighter saw the Menace unleash her recovery skills as she grappled her out to safety.
The striking game proved to be the ace in the sleeve for the Menace, as the second-round onslaught saw Lin with a cut on her left eye, with the latter resorting to her kicking game to keep the fight close.
Although the final round proved too close to call, Zamboanga took the tightly-contested win in front of raucous home support to keep her title hopes alive, which improved her ONE record at 4-2 (9-2 overall).
The Menace was confident in her punches, becoming the key to her huge win.
“I’m not scared, because I know I have an advantage in striking. Even though they know I’m gonna wrestle but I didn’t. I just challenge myself in striking,” Zamboanga told The Dragon inside the Circle after the decision.
Lin fell to 2-3 in ONE, and 15-5 and 1 draw after the loss.
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