The fighter gained popularity after knocking out Alyse Anderson at ONE Figure Night 10 in Colorado, USA. Fairtex has since held on to her title and was set to face Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga at ONE 167 in the US on June 7, but she had to back out due to a serious knee injury during a sparring session.
Although Stamp Fairtex is eager to defend her crown, the injury in question led to surgery that will prevent the champion from facing her rival. she will also have to reschedule her fight against ONE strawweight champion Xiong Jingnan on September 6 in Denver.
CEO of ONE, Chatri Sityodtong, disclosed the news during an interview with MMA Fighting.
“It’s a sad thing, one of her final sparring sessions prepping for the big event in a couple of weeks, she blew out her knee. 80 percent of her meniscus was torn off her knee and it was on a nasty takedown where her leg got caught. Her knee buckled. She just went for surgery, very successful surgery.”
Although the CEO hasn’t spoken to her since she underwent surgery, he strongly believes she will make a comeback, but he is sceptical about the fighter returning to the cage this year.
“I’ve talked to the Fairtex team, looks like it’s going to be six months,” Sityodtong said. “ But I really don’t know. I haven’t talked to the doctor. Let’s see what happens. It’s kind of sad, but at the same time Atlanta is six months away, so who knows? Stamp is a super athlete. You never know.”
Fairtex’s new global popularity has pushed her to relate better with her fans and has even motivated the fighter to learn English. In a recent interview, she told onefc.com: For my first fight in America, I was shocked that so many fans knew about me. My fondest memory was seeing American fans cheering us so loudly. I didn’t think there would be people who loved me this much. I believe I can expand my fan base in America further in my next fight there. It is important for me to learn English because I will be able to communicate with foreigners and understand more. I know that English is very important for me these days…”
Despite this injury preventing all Fairtex’s matches, the CEO believes enough time and rest will get the fighter back in top shape.
“These things happen. The most important thing right now is for Stamp to rest and recover and rehab her knee so she’s back, and hopefully, she’s back in several months, even potentially for our Atlanta show, and there are more shows in the States for next year. Sityodtong said. “So I’m pretty relaxed about that from a timing perspective plus, we have such a stacked card.”
“We haven’t even announced our card but we have such a stacked card for Denver, 100 percent the event is going to sell out. With zero marketing, we’re more than half sold out, which is mind boggling to me. It’s a 20,000 seat arena where world champion Denver Nuggets play. It’s a full blown NBA stadium. We’ve done zero marketing, All we’ve done is announce that we’re coming and put a ticket link up and a couple of fights and it’s more than half sold out already…”
