NOELLE “Lil’ Monkey” Grandjean is fond of her next opponent in No. 2-ranked contender Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga, but she's not about to let her soft spot for the Filipina MMA star get to her.
READ: Denice Zamboanga sees replacement fight as a step closer to title shot
Grandjean steps up for injured ONE Atomweight MMA world champion Stamp Fairtex to take on Zamboanga in a three-round bout in ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut II, Saturday at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
We go way back
While they aren’t as close as Zamboanga and Stamp are, "Lil' Monkey" and "The Menace" actually spent time training together at Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya, Thailand.
Make no mistake, though, don’t expect Grandjean to hold back.
“Of course, we don’t want to punch each other’s faces. But at the end of the day, we have the same goal. That’s what we have to do. After the fight, we can eat doughnuts together,” she said.
The new challenger, however, expects to surprise Zamboanga with her improvements from the last time they trained together, as both fighters have grown in their own ways since then.
Zamboanga trained for a while at Marrok Force MMA before moving back to the Philippines to open T-Rex MMA with her brother. Grandjean, on the other hand, now plies her trade at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket.
And when it comes to improvements, the French-Thai fighter actually believes she's the one who's done more.
“I think I might be one of the athletes who has improved their game the most because I started [MMA] a bit late,” she said.
“I trained with her when I was really starting MMA, so my improvement has been huge since then. I’ve fought different styles and in different countries. So I guess she will notice that on fight night.”
Grandjean's grand plans
That much has been evident recently, as this bout with Zamboanga marks Grandjean's third in three months.
And so, if she pulls the upset rug on the Filipina, she plans to take a rest knowing full well that she’ll have put the division on notice.
“If I win this fight, I would like to have some time off and breathe. I have been in survival mode for quite a bit. After that, of course, fighting for the belt has always been the goal,” she said.
“Denice is a top contender. If I get a win against Denice, it will definitely propel me to the belt. It’s a big opportunity, so I took it.”
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