Pinay mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Denice Zamboanga (12-2, 6 early finishes) accomplished a country milestone, winning the first Filipina MMA world champion by winning the ONE Championship Interim Atomweight World Championship Saturday afternoon in Bangkok.

The 27-year-old Quezon City native stopped ace Ukrainian grappler Alyona Rassohyna (13-6, 11 submissions) with ten seconds left in the second round with a ground-and-pound.

Rassohyna was a former World Warriors Fighting Championship atomweight champion and was known as the first fighter to have defeated current regular ONE Atomweight World Champion Nadthawan Panthong of Thailand, known professionally as Stamp.

“This is all hardwork,” Zamboanga said after the match. “I couldn’t move my left arm two weeks ago but God gave me the strength and gave me this match.”

Zamboanga dictated the tempo in the first round on the stand up, throwing punches on Rassohyna, thereafter controlling the Ukrainian on the takedown and throwing more punches.

Unfazed, the Ukrainian took Zamboanga down early in the second and attempted a heel hook but the Pinay showed excellent submission defense and took side control over Rassohyna.

Zamboanga then finished Rassohyna, dropping numerous hammer fists and elbows to the head while on side control for the early finish.

Zamboanga joined Joshua Pacio as the two Filipino reigning world champions in MMA.

She is expected to next fight Stamp, who is currently out due to injury, for a possible unification bout.

(Photo from Denice Zamboanga Facebook account)