Allycia Hellen Rodrigues Knocks Out Johanna Persson To Retain ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Title
Allycia Hellen Rodrigues continued her destructive run as the longest-reigning female titleholder in ONE Championship’s striking divisions, as she annihilated Johanna Persson.
The Brazilian scored an emphatic third-round knockout victory in her fourth ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Title defense at ONE Fight Night 33 on Prime Video, which aired live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, July 11.
Rodrigues began the main event showdown with Persson in some heated exchanges from the outside. The Brazilian found success with step-in elbows and body kicks. The Swede, for her part, kept her jab in her advancing foe’s face.
In the second round, like an octopus attacking its prey, Rodrigues pounced and engulfed Persson inside the clinch. Once there, she blitzed the challenger with knees and more elbows, which forced the latter to retreat.
With her engine now firing on all cylinders, Rodrigues stormed to the center of the ring for round three. The women exchanged punches from the outside when, in an instant, the defending World Champion twisted her hips into a left hook that dropped the Swedish challenger onto the canvas.
Persson answered the eight-count, but once the action resumed, she immediately went on the back foot. Rodrigues traced her movements around the ring until she found her target – an open body that led to an open head.
The Brazilian mom-champ sent a right hand into Persson’s stomach, which forced the wilting warrior to drop her hands. When she did, Rodrigues went up top with the same destructive left hook. Persson went down instantly, and the referee jumped in to stop the action at the 59-second mark of the third frame.
With the victory, Rodrigues nudged her record to 35-7, earned a US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, and cemented her place as one of the most dominant athletes on the promotion’s deep roster of global superstars.
