- George Chung
- Mar 8, 2024
- 2 min read
ONE Championship will celebrate International Women’s Day with an all-female martial arts event in Bangkok. ONE Fight Night 20 will also feature two mothers competing against each other for the ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship.
Allycia Hellen Rodrigues will defend the title against Cristina Morales in the evening’s co-main event.
With her title on the line, the Brazilian is locked in against her latest challenger.
“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,” Rodrigues told ONE.
“I believe it will be a good striking fight. She’s coming off a big win, so I’m looking forward to our showdown.”
The Muay Thai queen believes she will hold an edge over her opponent due to her experience in the sport. Morales will transfer her kickboxing skills into Muay Thai for a shot at gold.
But that does not mean Rodrigues does not respect the dangerous skill set the Spaniard possesses.
“I don’t think our styles are comparable. [Morales] comes from kickboxing, 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,” Rodrigues stated.
“She has good combinations of punches and knees, which is how she managed to win her last fight.”
“But, honestly, I’ve faced the best on the circuit in several different styles. And after the last fight I had in a higher division against a girl twice my size, I can’t see any danger in anyone else.”
The co-main event will also serve as a chance at redemption for Rodrigues. In her last outing, she attempted to become a two-division champion but was ultimately finished by Smilla Sundell.
Back at atomweight, Rodrigues is taking the lessons learned into her title defense.
“What happened is that I let the adrenaline take over me. I’m always very nervous in all my fights. 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,” the Brazilian said.
In this battle between mothers, the Brazilian is looking for her chance to add to her highlight reel and return to the win column with a knockout.
“I’m going in search of the knockout. I’m going to show everything I couldn’t show in the last fight. You can expect the best from me,” Rodrigues said.
ONE Fight Night 20 airs live on Friday, March 8, on Prime Video. The action begins at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m.
PST.
