Allycia Hellen Rodrigues reveals knockout win was carefully planned: “We trained a lot on this shot”

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues knew exactly how she wanted to end her title defense against Johanna Persson. The Brazilian champion executed her plan to perfection.

The reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion secured a devastating third-round knockout victory to retain her crown at ONE Fight Night 33 on Friday, July 11, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. For Rodrigues, the finish was far from accidental.

After weathering an early storm from the aggressive Swedish challenger, Rodrigues found her rhythm in the third frame. She finished Persson with the exact combination she had been drilling in training camp.

The 27-year-old Brazilian revealed that the match-winning sequence wasn’t improvisation. Instead, it was carefully planned and practiced for weeks at Phuket Fight Club.

Rodrigues dropped the former WBC Muay Thai World Champion with a left hook early in round three. Seconds later, she sealed the knockout with that same devastating shot after setting it up with a body punch.

While the ending was picture-perfect, Rodrigues admitted Persson proved to be a tougher test than anticipated, particularly with her relentless forward pressure and volume punching.

“We just wanted to control the distance. But in round two, we got a little bit lost. In round three, we found ourselves, and then we found [the knockout],” she said.

“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.

“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. 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.”

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues targeting MMA debut in 2026

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues is ready to continue her reign of dominance in the atomweight Muay Thai division, but the Brazilian champion has bigger plans on the horizon.

The mom-champ has received a calling to debut in mixed martial arts and remains focused on making her maiden appearance in 2026.

Having already extensively trained both gi and no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Phuket Fight Club, it shouldn’t take Rodrigues too long to add new facets to her world-class striking arsenal.

Her fourth successful title defense improved her record to 35-7 and earned her second consecutive highlight-reel finish. But she wants to wrap things up even quicker in future battles.

“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.

“My focus is to train MMA, and to start in MMA next year. We’re going to try to defend our belt if everything works well, but the final focus now is to go to MMA.”