Allycia Rodrigues kept her ONE Championship Muay Thai title following a one-sided beatdown this weekend.
Rodrigues put in work for four rounds against short-notice opponent Marie McManamon, causing their title bout to be stopped just before the final three-minute stanza. The win for Rodrigues headlined ONE Fight Night 29 from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
While the five-round Muay Thai clash started with a slow feeling out process in the opening three minutes, from that point forward it was a showcase for the 115-pound champ. Rodrigues pressed forward against McManamon for the next three rounds, pressuring a challenger who failed to respond to her combinations of shots.
Rodrigues mainly focused on her boxing abilities but also mixed in kicks at times too. This was seen during the sole knockdown sequence of the fight, where a kick led to a boxing combination which seated McManamon.
After wobbling McManamon with a kick to the head in the second round, Rodrigues unleashed a flurry of hooks and specifically connected with a left hook which sent McManamon tumbling. The challenger recovered and didn’t get dropped for the rest of the bout, although no comeback of any type was near being mounted.
After 12 minutes of action, getting her face visibly bruised and cut, McManamon was taken out of the fight.
“The plan was to use a lot of legs and kicks,” Rodrigues said through an interpreter in her post-fight interview. “But when I start fighting, I feel the fight, and I see the chance that I have the chance to use a lot of hands.”
The win on Friday continued a lengthy title reign for Rodrigues, which first kicked off in 2020 when she dethroned Stamp Fairtex. She has defended the title three times since then, previously also beating Janet Todd and Cristina Morales.
McManamon entered this weekend as an underdog, making her ONE debut on just a few days’ notice. She received the call to compete after Shir Cohen, the original opponent for Rodrigues, withdrew from the main event earlier in the week.
While little was known about McManamon before this weekend, it was promoted that she trains out of the prominent Knowlesy Academy gym, the same place where prominent ONE talent Jonathan Haggerty works on his craft.
Earlier in the night, Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu moved his ONE record to an impressive six wins and one loss, using ground work to overcome fellow ranked 145-pound fighter Jeremy Pacatiw on scorecards. The card also included a few MMA mismatches, with one of the bouts featuring a 41-second Shamil Erdogan win over veteran Gilberto Galvao.
Here are the quick results:
Main Card (8:00PM EST / 8:00AM ICT) (Prime Video)
Bout 11: Allycia Hellen Rodrigues def. Maria McManamon via TKO, Corner Stoppage (RD 4, 3:00) (ONE Muay Thai Atomweight Championship) (115 lbs)
Bout 10: Rambolek Chor Ajalaboon def. Parham Gheirati via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:15) (Muay Thai)
Bout 9: Dmitriy Kovtun def. Soe Lin Oo via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 8: Shamil Erdogan def. Gilberto Galvao via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:41)
Bout 7: Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu def. Jeremy Pacatiw via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Martyna Kierczynska def. Yu Yau Pui via Decision, Split (Muay Thai)
Bout 5: Sanzhat Zakirov def. Eko Roni Saputra via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:46)
Bout 4: Nontachai Jitmuangnon def. Arian Esparza via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 3: Banma Duoji def. Joshua Perreira via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:13)
Bout 2: Diogo Reis def. Shoya Ishiguro via Submission, Kimura (RD 1, 6:05) (Grappling)
Bout 1: Stefan Korodi def Katsuki Kitano via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)