Filipino fighter Drex Zamboanga. ONE CHAMPIONSHIP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Drex Zamboanga is far from satisfied with his performance despite a triumphant ONE Championship debut last month.
Zamboanga scored a second-round submission win over Thai bet Detchadin Sornsirisuphathin in ONE: A New Breed last Aug. 28 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
And although he got the result he wanted, Zamboanga felt he could’ve done much more with better preparation and diet.
Preparation for every fight is crucial and Zamboanga admitted he wasn’t able to train as well as he would’ve wanted ahead of the flyweight bout largely due to problems with a training facility.
“Having a good place to train is so important in MMA. We just train where we can here in Bangkok. Having a lack of dedicated training and sparring partners, as well as facing a little bit of ring rust, I felt sluggish heading into this one. It’s not easy adjusting to the new weight system. I think I had a little too much ice cream before the fight. I felt so heavy and slow,” said Zamboanga, a bantamweight champion in the URCC.
“The situation was difficult but we made some adjustments and the three of us just found ways to train whenever and wherever we could. Somehow, we were able to condition ourselves well enough to give a good performance. It wasn’t easy.”
Still, Zamboanga was able to announce his ONE arrival in style when he put Detchadin to sleep with just two seconds left in the second round.
“I’m so happy I was able to get the win. Getting the opportunity to compete, especially in these times, is a blessing,” said Zamboanga (8-5), whose younger sister Denice, the top-ranked atomweight contender also won on the undercard.
“I’m lucky I can continue to do what I love to do, training and competing. ONE Championship is such a different environment from my previous experiences. They treat their fighters well.”