‘Ready For A Championship Fight’ – Shir Cohen Aims To Seize The Moment And Dethrone Allycia Hellen Rodrigues
Shir Cohen is gearing up for the biggest fight of her professional career – and a true life-altering opportunity.
The young Israeli athlete will challenge long-reigning divisional queen Allycia Hellen Rodrigues for the ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Title in the main event of ONE Fight Night 32 on Prime Video, which takes place in U.S. primetime on Friday, June 6.
That battle will go down at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and it pits one of Muay Thai’s most dominant titleholders against a hard-charging contender who’s loaded with momentum.
Cohen was originally slated to challenge for the gold in March, but an ankle injury suffered in training forced her to withdraw from that contest.
She told onefc.com that while it hasn’t been easy, that setback only strengthened her resolve:
“Life has been very complex since then. In the last seven months, I’ve been injured. I’ve been recovering. I’ve been dealing with some challenges back home in Israel with my family. So many things happened, and I think this was one of the hardest times of my life.”
The 24-year-old Cohen has been a revelation since joining the world’s largest martial arts organization.
She secured her main roster contract by winning the ultra-tough Road to ONE: Thailand tournament before rattling off a trio of impressive – and impressively entertaining – victories in ONE Championship.
Following a sensational upset win over decorated Scottish veteran Amy Pirnie in her most recent outing, Cohen will come into this World Title opportunity with plenty of confidence.
Still, she admitted that she initially expected a couple more hurdles before earning this crack at gold:
“At first, I thought that there’s gonna be maybe more fights. But I was also ready for a championship fight in my mind.”
After an arduous recovery and rehabilitation process, Cohen now has her sights set squarely on Rodrigues, who hasn’t lost an atomweight fight in more than five years.
For her part, the Israeli comes from a deep kickboxing background, but she has been sharpening her Muay Thai weaponry at the world-renowned Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya.
Always modest and humble, Cohen was quick to heap praise on the Brazilian titleholder:
“Rodrigues is very technical and very smart, and her Muay Thai weapons are very good. She’s very experienced as well. She is more experienced than me, especially under Muay Thai rules. And she’s very good and very strong.”
Determined To Avenge Stamp’s Loss
As a close friend and training partner of former three-sport ONE World Champion Stamp Fairtex, who lost the atomweight Muay Thai belt to Allycia Hellen Rodrigues back in 2020, Shir Cohen will carry an extra sense of purpose into ONE Fight Night 32.
She’s inspired and determined, she said, to bring the ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Title back to her squad at Fairtex:
“I don’t feel pressure. It gives me more motivation because if I can get this for Stamp and for the team, I will feel proud of myself.”
If she’s able to defeat Rodrigues on June 6, Cohen will become the first-ever Israeli ONE World Champion. But rather than getting caught up in the high-stakes nature of this matchup, she’s focused solely on emerging victorious.
A talented all-around striker with venomous boxing skills, crafty footwork, and a deep gas tank, she plans to employ every skill at her disposal to neutralize the Brazilian’s trademark clinch game and vicious elbows.
Cohen added:
“My footwork and my boxing [are my biggest advantages]. I will try to use them. I want to win. It doesn’t matter how or what way. I will just see when we’re in there.
“You know, I’m not different than other fighters. I’m not special, but I just work hard, and I give my heart and try my best. I have a big goal inside of me, and I have to achieve this goal. I have to.”
