ONE vice president Rich Franklin is widely credited for discovering Thai superstar Stamp Fairtex and bringing her to the Singapore-based promotion.
The three-sport talent set ONE on fire as soon as she debuted in 2018, claiming both the women’s atomweight muay Thai and kickboxing world titles within her first year to establish herself as one of the most recognizable names on the roster.
Stamp (10-2) will look to add another gold belt to her trophy cabinet when she takes on Seo Hee Ham (26-8) for the ONE interim women’s atomweight MMA world title in the ONE Fight Night 14 headliner on September 29.
The blockbuster main event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium is a far cry from where Franklin spotted her five years ago, and he spoke of the first time he noticed the future star while appearing on the “Anik & Florian Podcast” this week.
“I was at one point in time running a program called the ONE Warrior Series. It was a traveling show and literally the best job I’ve ever had,” Franklin recalled.
“Stamp was from one of the first tryouts that I held in Bangkok. I tell this story frequently, but I was watching this tryout, and it sounded like this cannon was going off to my right. Suddenly, I’m not paying attention to the tryout that’s going on this way. I’m just looking over this way and watching her. Immediately, I was like, ‘I need to sign this girl,’ like, ‘I need to sign this woman right now.’ Obviously, you know, the rest is history there.”
Stamp has a tough assignment ahead of her at ONE Fight Night 14, as she will have to halt the nine-fight winning streak of her South Korean rival.
The pair were set to cross paths in 2021 as part of the ONE atomweight MMA world grand prix, but Ham was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury after defeating Denice Zamboanga in the quarterfinals. In her absence, Stamp went on to sweep the field and claim the grand prix crown.
Now Stamp and “Hamzzang” will finally lock horns with the world title belt on the line. And by Franklin’s estimation, there will be no backward steps taken by either fighter.
“There was an entire grand prix that they ran, and Stamp was a part of that grand prix, but Seo Hee Ham, who is her opponent for ONE Fight Night 14 coming up, was my dark horse pick. So, I’m excited to actually see this fight come back around. And I think, stylistically, these two women match up really well,” he said.
“Stamp likes to come forward. She likes to catch kicks and counter off those kicks. She buries her head down and throws hands, and she’s obviously very aggressive. But Seo Hee Ham is the kind of fighter that doesn’t take a step back either, and she doesn’t kick very often. So, it’s going to be very interesting to see how these two end up throwing down.”
