South Korean fighter Ham Seo Hee vs Filipino bet Denice Zamboanga. ONE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Controversial is one word to describe Ham Seo-hee’s victory over Denice Zamboanga, but the multi-time champion believes it wasn’t so if only her opponent was familiar with the rules.
After winning by split decision in the Atomweight Grand Prix quarterfinals Friday, Ham advised Zamboanga–who said she believes she won the fight unanimously–to brush up on the MMA rules that ONE Championship uses.
“In any point of the fight I never thought I was losing because, if you know the ONE Championship rule I believe it’s a little bit different than the global rule set,” said Ham through an interpreter. “Like when she was shooting for takedowns or clinch she wasn’t advancing her position; she wasn’t really effective.”
ONE Championship uses the Global Martial Arts Rule Set for Competition, which the promotion described as the blend of the best practices from both the Asian and Non-Asian rules, unlike the UFC which follows the unified rules of MMA.
Probably the biggest difference between rule sets is the scoring system the judges have to use during fights.
The unified rules adapt boxing’s 10-point must-win system while the global rule set judges a match in its entirety.
Ham, who fought four times in the UFC and won atomweight titles in Rizin, Road FC, and Jewels, said that Zamboanga would eventually agree with her once she familiarizes herself with the global rule set.
“In my opinion Denice Zamboanga should go and study the ONE Championship rules first because if she knows the rule from start to the end I believe she would agree that I won the fight,” said Ham who won her promotional debut in the Atomweight Grand Prix.
Ham added that Zamboanga’s slam late in the third was a sign of desperation and that the Filipino contender wouldn’t have shot for a takedown if she was confident that she was ahead in the scorecards.
“If Denice really thought she was winning and she had that interval she wouldn’t have desperately tried for that takedown, running towards me, really looking for that takedown, that just shows deep inside Denice was losing and she had to do something to have a chance to win in this fight,” said Ham.
Nevertheless, Ham said that she respects Zamboanga and that being the no.1 contender in the promotion’s atomweight division is no small feat in itself.
“Even before the fight and after the fight I always respected her. The respect was always there, she’s the no.1 atomweight in ONE championship and you know she’s a great athlete so there was no point where I didn’t respect her, I always respected her and the respect is still the same,” said Ham.