By:  | March 3, 2023 8:05 am

Lara Fernandez is coming off the first win of her ONE Championship career. She beat Dangkongfah Banchamek by split decision in Manila last December.

The Spaniard had been handed a title shot on her ONE Championship debut. She gave Janet Todd a torrid time in that fight but ultimately came up short in her quest to win the interim atomweight Muay Thai title.

It made her second appearance in the ONE Championship cage a critical moment in the course of Fernandez’ career. After winning she joked that she was going to switch to bikini competitions but the Spaniard now says she is ‘ready for anything’:

Training trip

Fernandez tells her Instagram followers that she is ,

Still training hard, no time to waste.

But the Spaniard does have some specific plans she wants to put into place. Fernandez wants to relocate to Thailand and is hoping to find a camp and a sponsor.

Given her status and profile as a ONE Championship fighter she shouldn’t be short of offers. It was a surprise when she was handed a title shot on her debut but Fernandez was clearly not overwhelmed by the occasion.

Close contest

At ONE 159 she challenged Todd for the interim atomweight Muay Thai title. The American started stronger but Fernandez rallied and looked to be in the ascendancy in rounds three and four.

Having looked very comfortable in the early exchanges Todd suddenly found herself three minutes away from the second defeat of her ONE Championship career. The only other fighter to ever beat the American was Stamp Fairtex back in 2019.

But Todd came out very aggressively in the final round to deny Fernandez her title dream. It was a spirited effort from the Spaniard and she did manage to register a win at ONE 159 after another close contest.

This time it was Fernandez who set the pace in the final round. She continued to walk forwards and apply pressure to the Thai and it was enough to persuade two of the three judges to award her the decision win.