Stamp Fairtex is making a comeback after a serious knee injury. She’s focusing on countering a specific technique used by her opponent, Kana Morimoto.
The former three-sport ONE World Champion will compete against the four-time K-1 Champion in an atomweight kickboxing match at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri. The event will take place on Sunday, November 16, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Stamp, 27, has spent two years recovering from a torn meniscus that caused her to give up her ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title. The fight coincides with her birthday, adding extra meaning to her return.
Instead of immediately returning to MMA, Stamp has chosen kickboxing for her comeback. This allows her to assess her stamina, timing, and striking without the complexities of grappling after a long absence. Stamp acknowledges Kana as a top kickboxer in Japan, making her an ideal opponent to gauge her abilities.
Stamp’s analysis of Kana shows both respect and strategic confidence. She has identified Kana’s fast hand speed and quick in-and-out movement as her main assets. However, Stamp has also noticed vulnerabilities in Kana’s defense during these transitions. Stamp believes that if she times her counters effectively, her power can dominate the fight.
As Stamp prepares for the battle, one particular technique stands out in her mind. She has extensively studied all of Kana’s attacks, including her dangerous punching sequences and the calf kicks favored by Japanese fighters. However, the spinning back kick is the only move that truly concerns her as she heads to Tokyo.
“Her most dangerous weapons, I feel, are probably her punches and the calf kicks she has, because all Japanese fighters have those. I’m only scared of one move, the spinning back kick,” she stated.
“The key to winning this time, I think, will be my power – like kicking her hard enough to stop her, to make her flinch. That’s what I have to do. I plan to kick her arms until they’re crushed.”
Stamp Fairtex leverages kickboxing to re-establish competitive form
For two years, Stamp Fairtex questioned if her body would ever fully recover. The former ONE World Champion replaced intense training sessions with rehabilitation, turning her focus from striking to careful stretching, which tested her patience.
Her torn meniscus disrupted her MMA title defense plans on multiple occasions. The original target return date of September 2024 was postponed due to ongoing setbacks. Plans to challenge Xiong Jing Nan for the strawweight MMA title at ONE 168 were canceled when her knee failed to cooperate. Medical clearance was finally granted months later than anticipated.
Kickboxing provides a gradual return to elite competition. This allows her to assess her mental readiness, physical fitness, and endurance without immediately facing the full demands of mixed martial arts. Her training camp at Fairtex Training Center has focused on rebuilding the muscle mass lost during surgery and regaining the explosiveness that once made her a multi-sport champion.
The timing of the event is especially important, beyond just celebrating her birthday. Stamp sees this fight as a declaration that she is recovered, learned from her experiences, and is prepared to compete at the highest level again. She doesn’t want to be remembered simply as a name in the record books after all her accomplishments before the injury.
“I decided to go for kickboxing before MMA because I wanted to warm up my body first. I’ve been away for two years, and the muscle I lost after the surgery is all gone,” Stamp explained.
“What I want to show in this fight is that I’m still here. I’m not just a stepping stone for you to cross over.”
