ONE Championship Moves Next US show after popular MMA champion steps down

ONE Championship will not be returning to the United States this summer as planned.

The Singapore-based martial arts promotion, which offers MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing and submission grappling bouts, was slated to return to the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on August 1. Regrettably, that plan has been scrapped. The promotion now intends to return to city in June 26 of 2026 — more than a year from now.

ONE announced the news on May 2. The reason is that the planned main event has fallen through.

The event was set to be headlined by an atomweight MMA title fight, with popular Thai champion Stamp Fairtex looking to defend her belt against her good friend Denice Zamboanga, who holds the division’s interim belt.

However, Stamp regrettably suffered an injury while recovering from a previous surgery. She will no longer be able to compete on the card as a result. She has also elected to step down from her role as undisputed atomweight MMA champion. In turn, ONE has promoted Zamboanga from interim to undisputed champ. Zamboanga will presumably defend her title at an event in Asia while Stamp recovers.

ONE Championship CEO explains Denver card cancellation

Here is how ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong described the development:

“We are saddened to hear of the injury setback to Stamp and wish her nothing but the best in her road to recovery,” the ONE boss said in a prepared statement. “After looking at multiple alternate headlining options that unfortunately did not come together, we have made the difficult decision to move our Denver event to June 26. When bringing the world’s largest martial arts organization to the US, we strive to deliver the very best product to our passionate American fan base and put on the most entertaining and memorable show possible. The U.S. remains a high-priority market for ONE and our global business, and we remain committed to maintaining a strong presence in the region with monthly ONE Fight Night events in US primetime and future on-ground events.”

The ONE press release on the matter also explained that “fans who have purchased tickets for ONE 173: Denver on August 1 will be contacted by Ticketmaster with the option to process a full refund or hold onto their tickets for the June 26 date.”

Stamp Fairtex has yet to comment publicly on the cancellation of the August card, or the decision to relinquish her belt.