Homegrown mixed martial arts talents Jhanlo Sangiao and Denice Zamboanga will hoist the Philippine flag inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on April 22.
Sangiao, son of Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao, is set to collide with Argentina’s Matias Farinelli in a three-round bantamweight encounter, while Zamboanga is penciled to take on Brazil’s Julie Mezabarba in the women’s atomweight joust.
Sangiao holds an immaculate professional record of five wins with four victories by submission and one via knockout.
The “Little Machine” is also 2-0 under the ONE Championship banner.
In his most recent outing last December, he forced ONE Warrior Series Philippines alum Anacleto Lauron to tap with a wrenching rear-naked choke in the first round.
His scintillating performance earned him a $50,000 bonus.
Farinelli, on the other hand, is an Argentinian standout from the world-recognized Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand.
Farinelli is also 5-0 record holder, but all of his career wins have come by way of submission.
Both men were originally slated to face each other at ONE 164, but Farinelli withdrew from the bout after testing positive for Covid-19. As a result, Lauron filled in for him to square off with Sangiao.
Zamboanga, meanwhile, rebounded from back-to-back losses with a razor-thin split decision win over China’s Lin Heqin at ONE Fight Night 5 last December.
Zamboanga hopes to get back into the world title conversation by defeating Mezabarba at ONE Fight Night 9 in April.
However, it will not be a walk in the park for Zamboanga as Mezabarba has been proven to be no slouch of an opponent.
The Brazilian vixen first gained attention by scoring an upset against former world title challenger Mei Yamaguchi.
Although she lost her next two assignments opposite Stamp Fairtex and Jenelyn Olsim, Mezabarba went the distance with them and made sure that they would have to earn their victory the hard way. – ONE release
