By:  | October 4, 2022 9:08 am

Seo Hee Ham has been patiently sitting on the sidelines for the past six months. The Korean is reportedly out with an injury but that didn’t stop her from taking to Instagram to throw some shade at her rivals.

Seo Hee Ham shared a list of the top female atomweights. It was compiled prior to last weekend’s strawweight title fight between Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan but the Korean sits at the top:

Impressive resume

The list includes Rizin’s super atomweight fighters. Ham, who recently showed off her impressive flexibility, held the 108lbs title with the Japanese promotion before signing for ONE Championship and beating Denice Zamboanga by decision twice.

The Korean is currently on an eight fight winning streak and her recent resume is very impressive. She has beaten the likes of Mina Kurobe, Jinh Yu Frey, Miyuu Yamamoto and Ayaka Hamasaki as well as Zamboanga.

There is no chance of Lee being handed another strawweight title shot after losing three fights in a row in that division. But Xiong had made it clear that she wants to drop down to atomweight and challenge for that title.

Current status

Nobody seems to know what Ham’s current status is but Lee recently told reporters she had heard the Korean was out due to injury. If that is going to be a prolonged absence then it could leave the path open for Xiong to drop down to atomweight and challenge for the belt.

But the Chinese fighter will have some weight to lose if she wants to do that. She weighed 126.9lbs on fight night, which is nearly 10lbs above the limit that atomweights are supposed to compete at.

By contrast Lee weighed just 123.2lbs on fight night which suggests she would have no problem getting back down to atomweight and probably wouldn’t need much time to do it. ONE Championship has started checking fighters weights before they step into the cage to ensure they are not trying to game the hydration system.

Atomweight rivals

One fighter who definitely isn’t sticking to the rules when it comes to rehydration is Tiffany Teo. She weighed an incredible 131.5lbs before her fight with Ritu Phogat who stepped on the scales at 116lbs.

So it is very unlikely that Teo will be allowed to compete at atomweight in the future, ruling her out as a potential title contender. But the one fighter currently ahead of the Korean in the queue did win at ONE on Prime Video 2.

SStamp Fairtex cemented her status as the #1 contender with a decision win over #5 ranked Jihin Radzuan. The Thai already has a loss to Angela Lee on her record though so Ham looks to be the most likely candidate.

When Lee decides she is ready to return to her natural home of atomweight the Korean will surely be next in line to challenge her.