‘I Feel Excited’ – Stamp Fairtex Reflects On Two Years Of Recovery Ahead Of Return At ONE 173
After more than two years away from competition, Thai megastar Stamp Fairtex is finally ready to step back under the global spotlight.
On Sunday, November 16, she’ll make her long-awaited comeback at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri to face four-time K-1 Champion Kana “Krusher Queen” Morimoto in an atomweight kickboxing bout inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
For the former three-sport ONE World Champion, this fight represents a new beginning.
She said:
“I feel excited, and also nervous. I won’t know the full extent of my body’s condition and capability until I actually step in to fight.”
The past two years reshaped Stamp’s life in ways she never expected. She captured the vacant ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title at ONE Fight Night 14 in 2023. Not long after, a defense against Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga was set for ONE 167 in June 2024.
Training was going well until a sparring session went wrong — a torn meniscus forced her to withdraw and put her rise on hold.
The World Champion’s days of heavy striking were replaced with measured steps inside a rehab room, where each stretch became part of the fight to move again.
Stamp said:
“This is my comeback fight after more than two years. The past two years were difficult. It changed my routine from training Muay Thai every day to doing physical therapy every day. There was a time when I felt like I was pushing too hard.
“It turned out it wasn’t the time yet, so I had to reset everything and go back to physical therapy from scratch. It was hard. Getting through each day felt like it required a lot of mental strength.”
Those long months demanded patience. Each exercise became a lesson in humility – slow, repetitive, and often painful – but the discipline of recovery became its own kind of training.
Stamp almost healed in time for a return at ONE 168: Denver in September 2024 to challenge “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan for the ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Title, but an injury setback kept her from competing.
When progress stalled, she focused on small victories. The encouragement of her coaches and the gentle testing of her body in the gym slowly turned doubt into belief.
The 27-year-old said:
“When [my sparring partner] kicked, it didn’t hurt much. When it didn’t hurt, I felt, ‘Wow, my confidence went up! Okay, I’m ready, I can do it!’ That day I knew it probably wouldn’t hurt anymore. So I gained confidence day by day. My confidence just kept building up.”
Stamp Delivers Inspiring Message To Fans
Now medically cleared and mentally renewed, Stamp Fairtex will return against Kana Morimoto in a three-round atomweight kickboxing clash at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri, live from Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
It will mark her first appearance in more than two years, and fittingly, it falls on her birthday – a date she’s long dreamed of celebrating inside the Circle.
When the opportunity appeared, she didn’t hesitate.
Stamp said:
“The moment the doctor said, ‘Okay, your body is 100 percent, you can fight,’ I requested a fight right away. When the matchup for November 16 in Tokyo came up, I told the gym owner, Mr. Prem [Busarabavonwongs], ‘I want to fight!’ Because it happens to be my birthday, and I’ve always dreamed of fighting on my birthday.”
This comeback is more than a date on the calendar. For Stamp, it’s proof that every hour spent in recovery and every moment of doubt has led to something worth fighting for again.
As she gets ready to face one of Japan’s most accomplished strikers, she wants to prove that persistence can mend what setbacks once broke.
She said:
“For those who look up to me as an idol, and are looking for something from Stamp, I would just advise: Don’t give up, don’t lose heart, and don’t be discouraged. Look at me, I tore my knee, had surgery. Other people told me to retire, saying, ‘Just quit, you don’t need to prove anything anymore.’ But I feel like I still have a better version of myself to show.
“I fell, struggled, almost lost my hope, but I was able to come back. That means you can come back too. You can do what you think is impossible.”
