ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Rodrigues has never shied away from a challenge. Win or lose, there’s critical lessons she takes from each adventure in the ring.
Her last outing saw her dare to be great against ONE strawweight Muay Thai queen Smilla Sundell. Unfortunately, destiny prevented her from becoming a two-weight ONE World Champion. But when she defends her gold at ONE Fight Night 20: Todd vs. Phetjeeja on Prime Video this Friday, March 8, against Cristina Morales, she plans to put the past behind her and remind everyone why she’s on the throne.
“What happened is that I let the adrenaline take over me. I’m always very nervous in all my fights, and in this one, it still took a long time from one fight to the next. I still can’t quite control it. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it has happened a few times. The fight itself didn’t bother me, but I feel like I lost to myself,” Rodrigues said. “I always focus on my fights, but whenever I defend my belt that focus is doubled. This time I’m not going to let anything get in my way, nothing at all. I can’t wait to fight and show who I really am.”
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This time around, the Brazilian brawler faces Morales. The Spaniard has flown under the radar in ONE Championship so far, despite her resume as a former K-1 World Champion. Morales get off to a rough start in the world’s largest martial arts organization. But after a vicious knockout win last November at ONE Fight Night 17 over Supergirl Jaroonsak, World Title implications quickly followed. And given her pedigree, Rodrigues refuses to take her lightly.
“I don’t know my opponent much, I only saw her fight twice in ONE. I believe it will be a good striking fight,” Rodrigues said. “She’s coming off a big win, so I’m looking forward to our showdown.”
Rodrigues will look to put a stop to her adversary’s recent surge of momentum in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 20 to re-establish herself as the top dog in the atomweight realm. But Morales will enjoy the underdog role once again to shake up the division.
Allycia Rodrigues the bout against Cristina Morales will be a banger
ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues’ striking style has helped her dominate all opponents in the division, and she believes that Cristina Morales’ acumen will make for a fantastic contest at ONE Fight Night 20.
The pair come from very different striking backgrounds, with Morales as a former K-1 World Champion and Rodrigues existent solely in the art of Muay Thai. But when they lock horns this Friday, March 8, Rodrigues expects fireworks to take place.
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“I don’t think our styles are comparable,” she said. “She comes from K-1 and I’ve trained Muay Thai my whole life. But I realized that she likes striking, and so do I. So, it will be a great fight.”
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