American Alyse Anderson has a big matchup on home soil at ONE Fight Night 10 on Friday, May 5 when she takes on former ONE atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion Stamp Fairtex in Broomfield, Colorado, and she says her well-rounded skillset will be the key to victory over the elite Thai striker.
Speaking ahead of fight night in Colorado, Anderson said that her goal was initially just to get onto ONE’s first fight card on US soil. But after being matched with Stamp, she knows she has a huge opportunity in front of her.
“Ever since they announced that they were coming to Colorado, I was super eager to get on the card,” she said.
“I was bugging my manager from the beginning, asking if they had any offers yet. I was just waiting to hear more matchups or anything. To be one of the first matchups released was super exciting to start promoting that card early.
“I said yes (to the fight with Stamp) right away because she’s the number one contender. I’m not ranked. I didn’t care at all. That’s a great opportunity. What better way to get in the rankings and to climb the rankings than to beat number one?”
Stamp’s career in one has seen her go from unknown prospect who scored a head-kick KO on ONE Warrior Series to become a two-sport world champion under the ONE Championship banner after claiming the promotion’s kickboxing and Muay Thai titles.
More recently, she has focused on mixed martial arts, and unsuccessfully challenged Angela Lee for the atomweight title back in March 2022. But she remains the leading contender in the division.
Despite her opponent’s established credentials, Anderson is confident of springing an upset, with her grappling skills set to play a crucial role.
“I think that I am most comfortable as a grappler, which is why I like this matchup just because Stamp is a world-class kickboxer, but she does have holes in MMA. I see it in (her) grappling, which to me is a strength,” she said.
“I feel like I will be a lot stronger than she thinks, just because it looks as if I don’t look as strong as I am. But grappling-wise, I feel like she will feel a big strength difference.
“Even though I know she has a lot of power in her hands, grappling-wise, I don’t think she has as much strength.”
In order to grapple, Anderson will have to first walk through Stamp’s striking range and close the distance. Prepping for Stamp’s world-class striking is something Anderson has been focusing on in training camp, and she said that her training, plus her advantages in height and reach, will stand her in good stead on fight night.
“It’s something we’re just going to train for. It’s something I’m just going to prepare for, and we’ve already started preparing for that,” she said.
“We don’t know what’s coming. I feel like going into fights, it’s a lot of nerves, about the unprepared, and we have so much footage that we can study for this fight.
“(The height and reach advantage) will help me keep her on the outside because I know she likes to come forward with a lot of power to be able to set up takedowns and stuff.
“I know that it will help me to have that little reach advantage and the little height advantage to be able to keep her on the outside, where I’m going to be trying to stop some of her blitzes with her Muay Thai coming in.”