When the final left hook found its mark and Johanna Persson crumbled to the canvas, Allycia Hellen Rodrigues felt the satisfaction that only comes from executing a plan to absolute perfection. This wasn’t luck – this was calculated precision.
The Brazilian destroyer had spent weeks drilling the exact sequence that would end her ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Title defense at ONE Fight Night 33, and when the moment arrived in the third round inside Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Stadium, muscle memory took over.
“We trained a lot on this shot. The body shot, more body shots, and the hook. We’ve been training this for many weeks already, and everything worked well,” Rodrigues said.
The reigning queen had entered the ring with a blueprint for destruction, but the Swedish challenger had other ideas. For two rounds, Persson brought the kind of relentless pressure that can crack even the most composed champions, forcing Rodrigues to adapt on the fly.
“We knew she was going to put on the pressure, but we didn’t think she was going to put in a lot of hands [as well]. She punched a lot,” Rodrigues said.
The early rounds became a masterclass in championship survival. Where lesser fighters might have panicked under Persson’s volume and aggression, Rodrigues absorbed the pressure like a sponge, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash the violence she had been perfecting in training.
“I let her hit a lot, but in the last round, the third round, I listened to my corner. They told me what to do, and then everything worked. Then, I found myself finishing the fight,” she said.
The turning point came when Rodrigues found her rhythm in the third frame, her corner’s instructions providing the clarity she needed. The first left hook dropped Persson like a stone, but champions don’t leave anything to chance. Seconds later, that same devastating shot – set up perfectly with a body punch – sealed the deal and earned her a $50,000 performance bonus.
It was the kind of finish that separates good fighters from great ones, and great fighters from legends.
The victory improved Rodrigues’ record to 35-7 while marking her fourth successful title defense, extending a reign that began when she ripped the crown from three-sport superstar Stamp Fairtex in August 2020. More importantly, it was her second consecutive highlight-reel finish, following her fourth-round TKO of Marie McManamon at ONE Fight Night 29 in March.
But for a champion who has turned destruction into an art form, even perfection isn’t enough. Rodrigues wants more – specifically, she wants to finish fights faster, to prove why she remains the gold standard for elite female striking across all promotions.
“We want to finish fights and try to finish [my] fights earlier every time we come. We just find ourselves getting better in boxing, getting better in everything. It’s the focus here – finishing fights,” she said.
ONE Fight Night 33: Official results
- Allycia Hellen Rodrigues def. Johanna Persson via knockout – Round 3, 0:59 – for women’s atomweoght Muay Thai world title
- Shadow Singha Mawynn vs Mohamed Younes Rabah ruled a no contest – featherweight Muay Thai
- Ibragim Dauev def. Pedro Dantas via unanimous decision – featherweight MMA
- Vladimir Kuzmin def. Stefan Korodi via unanimous decision – bantamweight Muay Thai
- Chihiro Sawada def. Macarena Aragon via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:52 – atomweight MMA
- Abdulla Dayakaev def. Nontachai Jitmuangnon via knockout – Round 1, 0:24 – featherweight Muay Thai
- Martyna Kierczynska def. Cynthia Flores via unanimous decision – atomweight Muay Thai
- Jhanlo Mark Sangiao def. Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg via submission (rear-naked choke) – round 3, 4:42 – bantamweight MMA
