Allycia Hellen Rodrigues Retains Muay Thai World Title With Clinical Performance Against Cristina Morales
The co-main event of ONE Fight Night 20: Todd vs. Phetjeeja on Prime Video saw reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues successfully defend her gold in a scrappy five-round battle.
On March 8 in U.S. primetime, the 25-year-old striking sensation squared off with decorated Spanish star Cristina Morales at the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The World Title showdown took place at ONE’s landmark all-female fight card on International Women’s Day and marked the first time in promotional history that two mothers competed for a ONE World Title.
Morales was the more active, high-output fighter during the early going, blitzing Rodrigues with heavy punching combinations while rarely taking her foot off the gas pedal.
After looking to counter-strike through the first frame, the titleholder started to find her range in the second with several well-timed kicks to the body and some solid knees in the clinch to close the round.
In the third stanza, the Brazilian found more success as Morales began to show signs of fatigue. Rodrigues was sharp at close range with her picture-perfect elbows and punishing work from inside the clinch.
The fight shifted even more in favor of the defending World Champion in the fourth round, as she consistently forced the challenger on the back foot while landing big rib-crunching punches and knees to the body.
Sensing that she was behind on the scorecards, Morales fearlessly pushed forward in the final frame, but it was Rodrigues who did the best work offensively with a number of powerful body kicks from long range.
After 15 minutes of high-paced action, the ringside judges unanimously agreed that the divisional queen had done enough to retain her throne.
With the victory, Rodrigues has now successfully defended her ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Title two times and owns a 33-7 career slate.
After the win, the proud mother welcomed her son into the ring to celebrate. And when asked who she would like to face next, Rodrigues called for a Muay Thai rematch with former divisional queen and current ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex.
