The ONE women’s strawweight Muay Thai champion Smilla Sundell was left without an opponent for the first defense of her world title after Jackie Buntan dropped out due to injury. Stepping in for the all-champions showdown will be the ONE atomweight Muay Thai champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues.
The two Muay Thai world champions Sundell and Rodrigues will face off on Sep. 29 as part of ONE Fight Night 14 on Amazon Prime Video. This is a matchup in which the ONE atomweight (115 lb/52.2 kg) world titleholder will look to become a two-division world champion by capturing the strawweight (125 lb/56.7 kg) world title.
Smilla Sundell vs. Allycia Hellen Rodrigues
The Brazilian athlete Rodrigues captured her ONE atomweight Muay Thai world title when she defeated combat sports superstar Stamp Fairtex in 2020. Since then, she has defended her world title against the kickboxing world champion Janet Todd.
The 25-year-old Rodrigues is motivated by her son. In an interview with ONE Championship, the Muay Thai queen explained:
“Now I’m stronger, because I fight for myself and for my son. I want him to be proud of me. Whenever I look at him, I have a lot of strength to go even further. I know what I’m doing will be very worthwhile for us and for our future. Every drop of sweat, pain and tiredness that I felt in my body, every moment I lost with my son, all this was worth it. Then it will be just joy with the result of my work.”
Sweden’s Sundell will be determined to defend her strawweight crown at ONE Fight Night 14 against the atomweight queen. Impressively, “The Hurricane” Sundell set the record in ONE Championship by becoming the youngest world champion in the promotion’s history at 17 years of age.
After five rounds of battle to take the inaugural crown, Sundell knew that this was the most important moment of her life. While speaking to ONE, she said:
“It was great [when they announced me as the winner]. I couldn’t believe it. I still haven’t got it yet, I think. I’m still shocked. I don’t think anything in life compares to this. I love the belt. It’s so good. It’s heavy and very beautiful.”
Sundell and Rodrigues will showcase a battle of Muay Thai world champions on Sep. 29, and fans can enjoy ONE Fight Night 14 on Amazon Prime Video. At the same event, Stamp Fairtex will face Ham Seo Hee for an interim world title.