Stamp Fairtex Reveals Strategy In Muay Thai Return At The Inner Circle 20
After six years away from Muay Thai, former three-sport ONE World Champion Stamp Fairtex is back in the sport that made her famous.
The 28-year-old Thai megastar returns to Muay Thai competition to face Mexican striker Cynthia Flores in an atomweight clash at The Inner Circle 20 on Friday, June 26, streaming live on live.onefc.com.
Stamp is the only fighter in ONE Championship history to have claimed World Titles across Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA. However, eight months after claiming the vacant ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title, she suffered a serious knee injury in May 2025 and later relinquished her belt.
Now, with a kickboxing match under her belt, Stamp takes the next step in her martial arts journey, and it holds plenty of meaning.
A Return to Her Roots at The Inner Circle 20
Six years is a long time to be away from the discipline that shaped everything Stamp has achieved in combat sports. Her first words on the return speak to how deeply Muay Thai is woven into her identity as a competitor.
"Accepting a Muay Thai fight after six years away feels amazing. It feels like I'm finally returning to my roots, returning to the sport I've been competing in since I was a kid," Stamp said.
Her 64-18 career record reflects the full scope of a journey that has taken her from Thailand's Muay Thai gyms to World Title fights across three separate disciplines.
Stamp Plans to Use Elbows to Counter Flores' Boxing
Stamp arrives at The Inner Circle 20 with a specific blueprint tailored to how she expects Flores to approach the fight. The Thai star has identified the Mexican's reliance on her hands and prepared the ideal counter in advance.
"For this fight, I think I'm going to focus a lot more on using my elbows. Since she's a puncher, she's going to rely heavily on her hands. When someone comes in with punches, the shortest weapon to counter them is the elbow," she explained.
Flores, 31, trains out of Phuket Fight Club and carries a 25-7 career record into the matchup. The Mexican striker fell short in her two ONE Championship appearances last year and enters the contest looking for the biggest victory of her professional career.
Stamp's Long-Term Goal is to Reclaim Her MMA World Title
The return to Muay Thai is not the destination for Stamp. It is a deliberate step in a carefully considered plan to rebuild herself back toward the MMA World Title she was forced to relinquish due to injury, and the June 26 fight against Flores is the first move in that process.
"My long-term plan hasn't changed. I just felt like I needed a fight or two in the striking arts just to get my lungs burning and get my rhythm back before jumping back into MMA, because MMA takes a massive toll on your cardio. My main goal is to get my belt back," she said.
Stamp is not returning to Muay Thai out of nostalgia. She is using it as a launchpad to rebuild the physical and technical sharpness that MMA demands at the elite level. If Flores can derail that plan in Bangkok, she will have pulled off the biggest upset of her career. But Stamp is stepping into the ring with an outcome in mind that goes far beyond one fight.
Watch The Inner Circle 20 exclusively on live.onefc.com beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET/4:30 a.m. PT.
