‘Got The Skill Set To Cause An Upset’ – Marie McManamon Plans To Seize The Moment Against Allycia Hellen Rodrigues
ONE newcomer Marie McManamon believes she will shock the world this week at ONE Fight Night 29 on Prime Video.
On March 7 in U.S. primetime, McManamon will make her highly anticipated promotional debut when she challenges Brazilian superstar Allycia Hellen Rodrigues for the ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Title at the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Rodrigues was originally slated to face surging Israeli phenom Shir Cohen at the event, but when Cohen backed out due to injury, ONE Championship matchmakers came knocking on McManamon’s door to offer her a late-notice shot at the belt.
Although McManamon has established herself as the United Kingdom’s top women’s Muay Thai fighter in recent years, she admitted that she took a moment of pause when offered the massive World Title fight with Rodrigues.
After mulling over the decision with her longtime coach, Christian Knowles, the 34-year-old determined that she has what it takes to win 26 pounds of gold.
McManamon told onefc.com:
“My first reaction when I was offered the match… I needed to take some time to think about it. It was quite short notice. Obviously, fighting the champion, I have massive respect for her, who she is as a fighter, and what she’s achieved.
“So I needed to take some time to think. I spoke to Chris. We had a chat. And then we kind of came to the conclusion that I’ve got the skill set to cause an upset.”
McManamon is now bracing for the toughest test of her career against one of the sport’s most dominant titleholders.
She’s quick to credit Rodrigues for her well-rounded striking skills and knows the odds are stacked against her, but she ultimately trusts in her own abilities and the quality preparation at Knowlesy Academy:
“My style? Technical, with knees thrown in since generally I’m the taller fighter. What Chris is so good at doing is seeing our strengths, and really working on them, and building that into a proper weapon.
“Rodrigues is strong. Good boxing. Good clinch. She’s tough. She comes from a good, good gym. Good coach. Again, massive respect for her. But inside the ring, it’s different. It’s business. I fight to do my best, and I know I can do that. That’s all I can do.”
The challenger is well aware that she could turn herself into an overnight sensation with a win over Rodrigues.
She also knows that opportunities like these don’t come along often – and she doesn’t intend to waste it:
“To fight for the title in my debut, it’s massive. And I’m extremely aware of how rare that is. For my career, it’s just going to catapult it. I’m so grateful for the opportunity, and I plan to grab it with both hands.”
McManamon Hopes To Make UK Muay Thai Proud
After dominating the ultra-tough Muay Thai circuit in the United Kingdom, Marie McManamon is excited to finally bring her talents to the global stage of martial arts.
For her, ONE Championship represents the pinnacle of combat sports:
“The thing I’m most looking forward to about fighting in ONE Championship is really it’s the best people in the world. I want to challenge myself against the best. I’ve already achieved that in the UK, and now I’ve set my sights on the world.”
If she can wrest the World Title from Allycia Hellen Rodrigues at ONE Fight Night 29, McManamon will elevate UK Muay Thai to new heights, joining her teammate and reigning bantamweight kickboxing kingpin Jonathan Haggerty as a UK-based ONE World Champion.
Notably, she would be the UK’s first-ever women’s ONE World Champion – an accomplishment she said would be a tremendous honor:
“To be the first female ONE World Champion from the UK would be everything. It would be such an honor to be an example of what talent there is in the UK, especially the females.
“I’m extremely lucky. I’m blessed to train with some amazing female athletes, and I’m so aware of the talent that we have in the UK. So to be the first, it would be everything.”
