Denice Zamboanga is getting married! The 25 year old got engaged to long term boyfriend and fellow MMA fighter Fritz Biagtan.
Zamboanga is based long term in Thailand and is currently fighting out of Marrok Force MMA in Bangkok. But she is back in Manila and shared some romantic images of her and her new fiancee on Instagram:
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Familiar name
If Biagtan’s name sounds familiar to you it is probably because he has been a successful fighter in his own right. Most famously he took on Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin 15 in a bout that was widely seen as being a bit of a mismatch.
He held the URCC atomweight title from 2016 until 2018 but lost it to Anthony Do who would go on to sign for ONE Championship. Biagtan was also scheduled to face Prajanchai PKSaenchaigym in a Muay Thai fight in 2020 but the bout was cancelled due to Covid-19.
He also trains at Marrok Force MMA in Bangkok and has competed in boxing and Muay Thai fights in Thailand in recent months. But Biagtan hasn’t had an MMA fight since the loss to Do in 2018.
Strength to strength
Zamboanga only made her pro debut in 2017 but went from strength to strength winning her first eight fights. She was promised an atomweight title shot by ONE Championship but it never materialized because champion Angela Lee got pregnant.
Instead Zamboanga found herself competing with seven of the promotion’s top atomweights in order to earn the title shot she had already been promised. She fell at the first hurdle, being controversially eliminated by Seo Hee Ham in the quarter finals.
The decision was so debatable, even Dan Hardy announced that Zamboanga should have won, that the Filipina was handed an immediate rematch. But this time she was comprehensively beaten by Ham who emerged as the clear winner after three rounds.
Power couple
Zamboanga and Biagtan look set to become Asian MMA’s latest power couple. Angela Lee and Bruno Pucci are probably the highest profile but other fighters who have entered into long term relationships with one another include Itsuki Hirata and Erson Yamamoto.
Rizin fighters Miyuu Yamamoto and Kyle Aguon are also contender’s for the crown of Asian MMA’s leading power couple. It will be interesting to see whether Zamboanga tries to persuade ONE Championship to sign her new fiancee!
Biagtan’s last two fights were at around 125lbs so he appears to have outgrown the atomweight division. Meanwhile Zamboanga is still ranked #3 despite coming off back to back losses.
Both of them are sure to be back in action before too long. But they will have to fit their fighting commitments around a wedding!
