Denice Zamboanga outpoints Chinese foe in ONE Fight Night 5

MANILA, Philippines — Denice Zamboanga snapped out of a two-bout slump with a split decision win over Lin Heqin to open the action in ONE Fight Night 5 at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.

Zamboanga, fighting for the first time in Manila, used her improved striking against Heqin to claim the advantage early.

Denice Zamboanga and Lin Heqin are kicking off ONE on Prime Video 5 with a BANG! ????

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The third-ranked atomweight contender assaulted her opponent with solid right straights that had the Chinese bloodied in the second round.

It was all Zamboanga in the first two stanzas except for a quick scare in Round 1 where she was staggered by the lankier Heqin landing a solid punch. 

But the Filipina was able to recover and continued her attack on the feet. Both fighters hardly grappled in the three-round affair as they settled on the slugfest.

Heqin made the affair close with a good third round where she limited Zamboanga's offense.

Still, the Filipina did enough to claim the split decision victory and give the Philippines a winning start on Saturday's twin events.

Zamboanga spoke about working on her striking in the fight against Heqin.

"I just challenged myself in striking... We worked on striking a lot, moved to my brothers gym. I want to show them that I have striking too," Zamboanga said.

"I know she has advantage woth her range so I just keep working on my right hand," she added.

Zamboanga also called out her good pal Stamp Fairtex, who recently contended for the ONE atomweight crown against reigning titlist Angela Lee.

Zamboanga improved her MMA record to 9-2 while Heqin dropped to 15-5.