‘A Chance To Fulfill My Potential’ – Alyona Rassohyna Eager To Seize Interim World Title Against Denice Zamboanga

Alyona Rassohyna feels poised to showcase the full breadth of her MMA skill set at ONE Fight Night 27: Tang vs. Abdullaev on Prime Video this Friday, January 10.

Live in U.S. primetime, the Ukrainian powerhouse will take on surging Filipina veteran Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga for the ONE Women’s Interim Atomweight MMA World Title at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

For Rassohyna, a victory would punch her ticket to a long-awaited trilogy fight with reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex, who is currently recovering from knee surgery.

Rassohyna submitted the Thai superstar in their first encounter back in 2021 but lost a closely contested split decision in their rematch several months later.

While the 34-year-old boasts a near-perfect submission rate across her 13 career wins, she believes that her two battles against a world-class striker like Stamp proved she’s much more than just a grappler.

Rassohyna told onefc.com:

“I call myself a well-rounded fighter because I can work both in stand-up and grappling. That was confirmed in my last two fights with Stamp.”

Indeed, the Yarost Gym representative displayed an adept understanding of timing, distance, and movement in her fights against the Fairtex sensation. She’ll undoubtedly lean on those ever-evolving striking skills against Zamboanga.

For her part, “The Menace” is coming into ONE Fight Night 27 on a three-fight winning streak, having displayed a much-improved boxing game en route to this shot at interim gold.

However, Rassohyna isn’t able to glean much from those recent victories. She said that Zamboanga’s opponents simply weren’t prepared in the stand-up department – a mistake she doesn’t plan to repeat:

“The work that I’ve seen from Denice in her last fights showed that the girls who boxed with her, they were worse in class and technically unprepared to fight her in stand-up. They didn’t have the setups or feints to create entries.

“As I understand it, their game plan was focused on takedowns, but their stand-up preparation was weak, which gave Denice an advantage in the stand-up.”

Although she’s carefully studied what Zamboanga is likely to bring to the table, Rassohyna is primarily focused on her own skills and attacks.

She also hasn’t lost sight of what’s at stake – the opportunity to achieve her longstanding goal of claiming 26 pounds of gold in the world’s largest martial arts organization:

“I feel like this is a chance to fulfill my potential – and I will definitely do it. For me, this interim belt is one of the big opportunities, a chance to realize myself on the way to the [undisputed] belt.

“I’ve been working toward this for a long time. I set a goal for myself long before I signed in this division that I would win the World Title, and my goals are materializing, so I’m happy with how much success I’ve had so far.”

Rassohyna Opens Up About Motherhood

A proud mother of two daughters, it’s no surprise that Alyona Rassohyna is motivated by her children.

Returning to the highest level of competition following two C-section births is an impressive and grueling task, but the Ukrainian views it all as a natural part of life.

She explained:

“I took a short maternity leave. I can’t say that it’s a sacrifice; I would say it’s a natural process in every woman’s life. I had two C-sections, I have two children, and that has its side effects during the recovery process of the body, especially an athlete’s body.

“I had to lose 23 kilograms (50 pounds) twice. I had to rebuild my muscles. I had to restore my technique and reactions. I can’t say it’s a sacrifice. It’s just one of the stages that pass.”

Rassohyna hopes to serve as an example and role model for her children. At the same time, she doesn’t expect her daughters to necessarily become elite mixed martial artists competing on the world’s largest platform.

Quite the opposite, she simply wants to provide them with the security and means to pursue their dreams, whatever they may be – and a World Title victory in Bangkok would go far toward achieving that.

Rassohyna added:

“I don’t want to be an icon for my children to imitate. I want them to follow their own path. My specific task is to give them the right to choose, provide them with a decent education, instill moral values, and values that they will follow, including love for family. Everything else is their decision, who they want to be.”