5 Things You Might Not Know About ‘Stamp Fairtex’

Nong Stamp’s march toward One Championship gold in an unprecedented third discipline has begun in earnest.

The Fairtex Training Center rep will confront Ritu Phogat when their atomweight grand prix final co-headlines One Championship “Winter Warriors” on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Their battle will determine the next No. 1 contender for reigning One Championship atomweight titleholder Angela Lee. Stamp enters the cage on the strength of back-to-back victories. The 24-year-old took a unanimous decision from Julie Mezabarba in the tournament semifinals in October.

As Stamp approaches her encounter with Phogat, here are five things you might not know about her:

1. Bullies drove her into the gym.

Stamp started her formal muay Thai training inside her father’s gym at the age of 5 as a means of self-defense in her native Thailand.

2. She was practiced and successful martial artist before adulthood.

A prolific muay Thai practitioner who became a regional stadium champion and a Northeastern Thailand titleholder, Stamp has compiled a 63-17-5 professional record in the “art of eight limbs.”

3. She hit the ground running in MMA.

Stamp made her pro mixed martial arts debut at the age of 20 on July 19, 2018. She needed just 19 seconds to cut down Rashi Shinde with a head kick at One Championship “One Warrior Series 2” in Singapore. Stamp went on to win her first five fights, four of them finishes.

4. Resilience appears to be one of her strengths.

The Rayong, Thailand, native suffered her first setback in MMA when she submitted to a guillotine choke from Alyona Rassohyna at One Championship “Unbreakable 3” on Feb. 5, 2021. The two women rematched a little less than seven months later at One Championship “Empower,” where Stamp walked away with a split decision in the atomweight grand prix quarterfinals.

5. She has a taste for gold.

Stamp was the first competitor to win One Championship titles in two disciplines. Stamp took a five-round unanimous decision from Kai Ting Chuang and laid claim to the organization’s atomweight kickboxing title at “Kingdom of Heroes” on Oct. 6, 2018. She then captured the promotion’s atomweight muay Thai championship with a unanimous verdict over Janet Todd at “Call to Greatness” on Feb. 22, 2019.