Black Belt Team 
Much fanfare has been made of the upcoming U.S. debut of top-ranked atomweight contender Stamp Fairtex at ONE Fight Night 10. The Thai superstar will make her U.S. debut at the 1stBank Center on Friday, May 5. However, her opponent is more than prepared to take her out and insert herself into the title picture.
Alyse Anderson will compete on home soil for the first time since joining ONE Championship. Although she was desperate to get on the card, she was not expecting Stamp to call her out for the date.
“After Stamp’s last fight, I watched it and her post-fight interview just because of the translation. I thought she said my name for, like, probably a whole 12 hours because people were also messaging me. They thought the same thing. So it was already in my head,” said Anderson.
“But then I realized what she had said, and because I was reading through social media, I was like, oh, that makes sense. Because I was surprised at first, like, why was she calling me out after her fight? I didn’t understand. But I was like, okay, maybe it was for the U.S. card.”
There was no hesitation from the Michigan native. She saw the opportunity to compete against the #1-ranked contender and former two-sport World Champion in Denver and took it. But taking the match did not come without overcoming obstacles.
After her last match in ONE, against Asha Roka at ONE 157, Anderson underwent surgery.
“Oh yeah, I broke my hand in my last fight, where I had to have surgery on it, reconstructive surgery on my ligaments. I have pins in it now. So I’ve been doing a lot [to recover], like after that fight, I have just been rehabbing my hand after the surgery. But at the beginning of the year, finally, I’ve been able to punch again and get back into full training,” said Anderson.
Healthy and back in the gym, “Lil’ Savage” has been breaking down Stamp’s game to see where she has the biggest advantage. Unsurprisingly, the American sees the grappler vs. striker matchup playing out in her favor on the floor.
But Anderson will also enjoy physical advantages as the taller athlete with a reach advantage. And she believes that will be a factor during their atomweight contest.
“It 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,” said the American Top Team atomweight.
A significant factor for all athletes competing at ONE Fight Night 10 will be the mile-high elevation. But that is something Anderson believes gives her an edge over her Thai opponent. The American prides herself on her conditioning, and without the global travel, she feels she can drag Stamp into deep waters in Denver.
“My conditioning. Yeah, I feel like being able to push the pace for three rounds in altitude is going to make a difference,” said “Lil’ Savage.”
“I think that she will have a more difficult time than if it was over there, which is why I immediately said yes to the fight because I think I will have the advantage of it being in Colorado. Just because of the altitude and the time zone.”
Anderson quickly accepted the fight because she knew it could send her directly into the hunt for the ONE Atomweight World Championship. If she picks up a win over Stamp, Anderson has no desire to face anyone outside the division’s top five.
She plans to state that case with a dominant performance ending before the judges can have their say.
“I feel like that (a win over Stamp Fairtex) should put me in line for a title contention because I don’t see myself after this fight fighting unranked opponents,” said Anderson.
“I definitely see myself getting the submission. I can’t give you a round, but I’ll just say through a submission.”
ONE Fight Night 10 airs live on Friday, May 5, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Prime Video. The event is free for all Amazon Prime subscribers based in the U.S. and Canada.
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