Stamp Fairtex signed her fight contract to face Ham Seo Hee believing she was fighting for the interim ONE atomweight MMA title, but the Thai star ended up leaving the ONE Circle as the undisputed champion on an emotional night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Prior to the main event between Stamp and Ham, long-reigning atomweight champion Angela Lee walked into the arena and announced her retirement as she laid down her championship belt in the middle of the cage.
It meant that the main event between Stamp and Ham was immediately upgraded from an interim title fight to a fight for the full undisputed championship, and both contenders looked laser-focused on walking away as the new champion.
After a cagey opening round, the action started to open up in Round 2, and Ham made the first big breakthrough when she countered a Stamp body kick with a perfectly-timed straight left. Stamp did well to work her way out of trouble, then turned the tables on "Hammzang" when she locked up an armbar in the closing seconds of the round, only for the bell to save the South Korean from a potential submission defeat.
With both fighters enjoying big moments in Round 2, the bout hung in the balance as they entered Round 3, but it was Stamp who took control early.
The Thai striker loaded up on her strikes and hurt Ham to the body, forcing her to retreat in a bid to buy time to recover. But Stamp wasn't in the mood for patience, and she closed in and unloaded more strikes to overwhelm Ham, with another body shot eventually folding up the South Korean and sending her to the canvas to claim the third-round TKO win.
The victory meant that Stamp made history by becoming the first ONE Championship athlete to capture world titles in three different sports.
After initially being discovered by Rich Franklin on his ONE Warrior Series talent-finding show, Stamp won the inaugural ONE atomweight kickboxing title on her promotional debut in October 2018, then added the ONE atomweight Muay Thai championship to her resume in her next bout in February 2019.
Stamp was a huge hit with the fans, with her fun, engaging persona and exciting fighting style making her a huge star in ONE Championship. But despite claiming two world titles in striking disciplines, Stamp wanted to test herself further by switching to MMA and attempting to win a third title.
Her road to the top wasn't always smooth, however. In 2020 she lost her kickboxing belt to Janet Todd via split decision, then dropped her Muay Thai title to Allycia Rodriguez via majority decision. She, then suffered her first MMA loss in February 2021 when she was submitted by Alyona Rassohyna.
Stamp went back to the drawing board, then returned to defeat Rassohyna via split decision in a rematch, then added wins over Julie Mezabarba and Ritu Phogat to earn a shot at Angela Lee's atomweight MMA title. That tilt ended in a second-round submission defeat, but not before Stamp had enjoyed success on the feet in a bout that pitted the Thai against her idol.
After that loss, Stamp bounced back with victory over fellow contender Jihin Radzuan, then returned to kickboxing and defeated Ana "Supergirl" Jaroonsak. A body-kick finish of American Alyse Anderson showed that Stamp was ready to challenge for MMA gold again, and she was matched with Ham, who went into their bout in Singapore riding a six-year win streak.
But on fight night, Stamp proved that she was the better fighter as she stopped Ham with strikes to capture the title she'd been chasing for so long.
And, to make that moment even sweeter, Stamp was presented with the belt by her idol, the retiring former champ Angela Lee, who put the belt over her shoulder and embraced the new champion.
"I just want to remind you that I love you so much," Stamp told Lee as they embraced.
"And you will always be my idol."
The night was a showcase for women's martial arts, with the main card exclusively reserved for women's bouts. In the co-main event, Sweden's 18-year-old Smilla Sundell outstruck atomweight Muay Thai champion Allycia Rodrigues en route to a third-round TKO finish as she retained her atomweight kickboxing title, while Danielle Kelly's more aggressive, attacking style saw her earn a unanimous decision over former nemesis Jessa Khan as she avenged her prior defeat to the Cambodian and captured the inaugural strawweight submission grappling title.
The opening main card bout saw strawweight MMA champion Xiong Jing Nan put her striking skills to the test, as the former Chinese national team boxer showcased her punch power with a third-round TKO finish of Muay Thai ace Nat "Wondergirl" Jaroonsak in their special-rules striking match.
Preliminary card recap
The prelims saw plenty of action, with a host of finishes on show. Former lightweight champion Eduard Folayang had lost seven of his last eight MMA bouts under the ONE banner, but he turned back the clock to knock out Amir Khan in the third round and claim an emotional victory, while Italian heavyweight Mauro Cerilli picked up the 15th win of career with an injury-TKO victory over the unfortunate Paul Elliott.
The opening bout of the night saw Maurice Abevi claim a first-round TKO finish of Blake Cooper, while the preliminary card's two Muay Thai bouts both produced finishes, with Dmitry Menshikov and Asa Ten Pow winnint their respective matchups by TKO and KO, respectively.
The only bout to do the distance came in the featured preliminary card matchup between bantamweight contenders John Lineker and Stephen Loman, with "Hands of Stone" running out the victor via unanimous decision.
ONE Fight Night 14: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Stamp Fairtex def. Ham Seo Hee via TKO (punches and knees) – Round 3, 1:04 – for women's atomweight title
- Smilla Sundell def. Allycia Rodrigues via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:58 – for women's flyweight kickboxing title
- Danielle Kelly def. Jessa Khan via unanimous decision – for vacant women's strawweight submission grappling title
- Xiong Jing Nan def. Nat "Wondergirl" Jaroonsak via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:42 – special-rules striking bout
PRELIMINARY CARD
- John Lineker def. Stephen Loman via unanimous decision
- Dmitry Menshikov def. Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong via TKO (three knockdowns) – Round 1, 2:41 – Muay Thai bout
- Eduard Folayang def. Amir Khan via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 1:57
- Mauro Cerilli def. Paul Elliott via TKO (arm injury) – Round 1, 5:00
- Asa Ten Pow def. Rambolek Tor Yotha via knockout (punch and head kick) – Round 3, 0:25 – Muay Thai bout
- Maurice Abevi def. Blake Cooper via TKO (elbow and punches) – Round 1, 4:36
