Seo Hee Ham

Photo via ONE Championship PR

Seo Hee Ham talks ONE Atomweight GP quarter finals win

Seo Hee Ham got the victory over Denice Zamboanga via split decision at ONE: Empower. This Atomweight Grand Prix quarter-finals bout transpired on September 3rd from Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Ham came into this bout with the curious confluence of being a promotional debutant but also being regarded as the best Atomweight in the world by many. The two warriors fought a closely contested fight as both showed how important moving forward in this tournament is to them.

The former Road FC and Rizin FF titleholder move forward in her pursuit of Grand Prix gold with Ham’s ultimate quest for Angela Lee’s ONE Atomweight World Title still looming in the distance.

Zamboanga was aggressively pursuant of the takedowns throughout. Ham connected with the more damaging strikes throughout though and the judges favored the approach of Seo Hee Ham.

Ham ended up handing Zamboanga the first loss of her burgeoning MMA career.

I spoke with Ham after her win which is sending her to the tournament semi-finals.

Seo Hee Ham

Last competing around two years ago and returning for this victorious ONE Championship debut

“It’s been two years since I last competed, and that’s a long time. So even after this fight, I didn’t really feel like I just fought, I just competed. I couldn’t really feel it. It was kind of surreal. Was a weird moment. It was a very happy moment for me. But it was like after that long layoff coming back, it just didn’t feel so real. Like, it didn’t feel like oh I just won, I just won. Those kind of feeling was kind of gone.”

The fan voting dynamic for the semi-finals and if she’d prefer a more clearly defined bracket

“You know I like this more. Because it makes it more interesting and exciting. Fans deciding my next opponent, it’s just more fun.”

author avatar
Dylan Bowker
I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.