Torn Meniscus Forces Stamp Fairtex Out of Title Defense at ONE Championship 167

Stamp Fairtex has been forced to withdraw from the ONE Championship 167 headliner after suffering a torn meniscus in training.

According to the Singapore-based promotion, Fairtex underwent surgery for the injury and will not be defending her atomweight (115-pound) belt against Denice Zamboanga as originally planned. Zamboanga is expected to remain on the card against an as yet to be announced opponent. Fairtex was also slated to meet ONE strawweight (125-pound) queen Jingnan Xiong on Sept. 6 in Denver, but that bout is also “in question,” according to the promotion.

Fairtex revealed how the injury occurred in a release issued by ONE Championship.

“My sparring partner was behind me, and she was going to take me down. She grabbed my body and lifted me up, but since she is smaller than me, when she lifted me up, she couldn’t lift me that high, and my leg was still touching the ground,” Fairtex said.

“Then, she twisted. When she twisted, my leg was still touching the ground, so my knee got twisted. When it twisted, it made a loud noise. So, I stopped immediately and went for an MRI after that. [And the doctor said] my meniscus was torn.”

ONE 167 takes place on June 7 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. A featherweight (155-pound) muay thai championship clash between Tawanchai P.K. Saenchai and Nattawut Somkhun has been elevated to the main event as a result of Fairtex’s injury.

Fairtex, who was a ONE title holder in both kickboxing and muay thai, clamed the vacant 115-pound MMA belt with a third-round TKO victory against Seo Hee Ham at ONE on Prime Video 14 this past September. The 26-year-old Thailand native has compiled an 11-2 mark while competing exclusively under the ONE banner.