IN a year where the MMA scene was emphatically taken down, the Zamboanga siblings provided a welcome surprise for Filipino fight fans.
Women's atomweight contender Denice and her bantamweight brother Drex have kept themselves busy as they put themselves in position for possible title shots in 2021.
Denice, 23, racked up impressive victories, first a decisive unanimous decision win over former challenger Mei Yamaguchi in February, and an emphatic first-round submission triumph over Watsapinya Kaewkhong in August.
Zamboanga hiked her record to 8-0 as she sets sights on the atomweight title held by Angela Lee.
She dared Lee, who is on maternity leave, to relinquish the beltbut will now have to go through the Atomweight Grand Prix.
Drex, 27, was also remarkable, manhandling Detchadin Sorsirisuphathin with a rear naked choke to score the second round submission win in August to improve his record to 9-5.
He is not ranked in the promotion's bantamweight rankings, but Zamboanga's recent stretch could turn heads in the coming year.
Rolando Dy also stamped his class, enough to be named as the Fighter of the Year for Brave Combat Federation.
The 29-year-old son of legendary boxer Rolando Navarette bounced back from his debut loss in the promotion before roaring back with superb conquests in Bahrain this 2020.
Dy first nosed out Maciek Gierszewski via split decision in September before scoring a unanimous decision win over John Brewin in November to put himself in the conversation for a title shot against current Brave CF lightweight champion Amin Ayoub.
Meanwhile, Joshua Pacio kept the famed Team Lakay in the limelight as he successfully defended his One strawweight belt in January with a split decision win over Alex Silva.
Danny Kingad also rebounded from his bridesmaid finish in the One Flyweight Grand Prix with a solid unanimous decision win over Wei Xie in January, as former flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio won his lone fight this year, a unanimous victory over Min Jong Song in November.
Aside from that, though, 2020 was a largely forgettable year for the Igorot warriors.
Rising star Lito Adiwang saw his seven-match win streak snapped, losing to Hiroba Minowa in November.
Kevin Belingon continued his downward spiral in the bantamweight division with a tough technical knockout loss to John Lineker in the same card. Two-time featherweight champion Eduard Folayang absorbed two devastating defeats, first to Pieter Buist via split decision in January, and to Antonio Caruso via unanimous decision in November.
Mark Striegl also shared the same fate as his UFC debut ended in a nightmare, falling to Said Nurmagomedov in just 51 seconds back in October.
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