The controversy over Stamp Fairtex‘s first and only MMA loss rumbles on. While footage seems to show her tapping out to a loosely applied choke from Alyona Rassohyna at ONE: ‘Unbreakable’ Part III the Thai is adamant that was not what happened.
“I didn’t mean to tap out. In that position, I did what I had learned from my training. To survive the choke, we have to pull the opponent’s face (away).”
Stamp confirmed that the submission was not right and believes the referee misunderstood the situation,
“At the moment, I could still breathe. I was trying to reach her face, but that made the referee misunderstand that I was tapping out, unfortunately. Anyway, I do understand that the referee’s reaction was for the safety of the athletes.”
Immediate rematch
The official result of that contest will go down as a submission win to Rassohyna with the fight finishing at the 4:53 mark in the third round. What makes it all the more frustrating for Stamp is that she was just seven seconds away from winning by decision.
She has an opportunity to avenge the only defeat of her MMA career next month at ONE: ‘Empower’. Stamp has been handed an immediate rematch with Rassohyna in the quarter finals of the atomweight Grand Prix.
Needless to say she knows this is an important fight,
“This fight means so much to me. Apart from being the largest tournament of female mixed martial artists, it is my opportunity to correct what I did wrong in the last fight.”
Bad night
Stamp’s furious reaction to the defeat at ONE: ‘Unbreakable’ Part III was there for all to see but she says the disappointment lingered for much longer,
“After I came back to the hotel room, I fell down and cried all night. I am not the kind of person who complains on social media or in public. I did protest in the cage (and) I don’t know what other people think but I know that I didn’t tap.”
Stamp demonstrated some impressive submission defence during that fight, surviving some dangerous situations. That makes her extremely confident heading into the rematch,
“The armbar is her most dangerous technique, but I avoided it every time in the last fight. I’ll surely prepare for her ground game, but I will bring something else to make sure that I will win the rematch.”
Something else
She did not elaborate on what that ‘something else’ might be but sounds determined not to leave this one in the hands of the judges,
“My last experience taught me that I have to take a chance and finish the fight right away when there is an opportunity. I will do whatever I have to for this fight to leave the cage with my arm raised.”
If there is one lesson Stamp has taken from her first ever loss it is that the longer a contest continues the more chance there is of her making an error, or a misunderstanding with the referee arising. She knows the best way to avoid getting in a similar situation would be to put Rassohyna away early.
Stamp knows she is going up against a proven submission specialist but the Muay Thai and kickboxing veteran wants to prove that she can finish fights too,
“She is very good on the ground, that’s very clear (but) I want to prove that I’m really better than her and can defeat her. I’m doing whatever it takes to win this fight.”
