Six years is a long time to be away from the sport that made you. But for Stamp Fairtex, the wait is over.
The former three-sport ONE World Champion steps back into atomweight Muay Thai competition at The Inner Circle 20 on Friday, June 26, taking on Mexico's Cynthia Flores in a contest streaming live on live.onefc.com, with far bigger ambitions driving her than just a single victory.
A serious knee injury forced the Fairtex Training Center product to relinquish her MMA title and commit to an extensive rehabilitation process in 2025, keeping the woman who had conquered Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA on the sidelines for longer than anyone would have wanted.
The feeling of stepping back into Muay Thai has not been lost on the 28-year-old Pattaya native, who first laced up gloves at the age of 5.
"Accepting a Muay Thai fight after six years away feels amazing. It feels like I'm finally returning to my roots, returning to the sport I've been competing in since I was a kid," she said.
Her opponent on June 26 brings her own motivation to Bangkok. Flores, 31, trains out of Phuket Fight Club and carries a 25-7 career record into the contest. The Mexican striker has come up short in her two ONE outings and will arrive in Bangkok treating this matchup as the opportunity of a lifetime.
A power puncher by nature, Flores will look to impose her hand speed and punching output on the Thai legend from the opening bell. Stamp, however, has already accounted for that. Her tactical preparation for this fight has been built around a specific response to her opponent's primary weapons.
"For this fight, I think I'm going to focus a lot more on using my elbows. Since she's a puncher, she's going to rely heavily on her hands," she explained.
Whatever unfolds on June 26, Stamp has made clear that this fight is merely the first step in a much larger mission.
"My long-term plan hasn't changed. My main goal is to get my belt back," she added.
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