“I Like Her Fighting Style” – Allycia Hellen Rodrigues Expresses Her Admiration for Smilla Sundell’s Striking

Published 09/27/2023, 3:04 AM EDT

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Allycia Hellen Rodrigues always aims to entertain the fans, and she’s delighted to be paired with a fighter who can bring out her best.

The atomweight Muay Thai queen is poised to challenge teenage phenom Smilla Sundell for the ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham. This event will be broadcast live and for free on Amazon Prime Video for fans across North America on Friday, September 29.

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues admires Smilla Sundell’s striking arsenal

In her two fights within the world’s largest martial arts organization, Rodrigues has squared off against and emerged victorious against two-sport World Champions, namely Stamp Fairtex and Janet Todd. Now, she’s eyeing a two-division title by defeating ‘The Hurricane.’ Before her bout with Sundell, the Brazilian star shared her appreciation for her upcoming opponent’s aggressive style and how the youngest World Champion in the promotion’s history deploys her skills.

Rodrigues told ONE: “Sundell is pretty big for that division. She likes to be aggressive and put pressure on her opponents, always moving forward. However, I also like to employ this forward game. She also knows how to utilize her height advantage in boxing and with her knees, and I know this is what gives her opponents a lot of trouble.”

Standing at 5-foot-8, Sundell consistently leverages her height and reach advantage against her opponents, as was evident when she dominated Filipino-American star Jackie Buntan at ONE 156 in April last year to claim the strawweight Muay Thai crown. She’s likely to employ a similar strategy against Rodrigues, whose height is similar to Buntan’s, but this doesn’t intimidate the ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion.

Rodrigues is anticipating a war against Sundell during their upcoming battle

The 25-year-old star is thrilled to face a like-minded fighter who pushes for action, and she believes they will deliver an exceptional and entertaining fight.

“She executes her game plan very effectively. I admire her fighting style, but I’m not concerned about her size,” Rodrigues affirmed. “I’m eagerly anticipating this fight, and I’m confident it will be an intense battle due to our fighting styles.”

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Written by:

Aditya Vaibhav

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Aditya Vaibhav is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. He discovered MMA in the year 2009 after watching Chuck Liddell on Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior, at the age of 10. A follower of combat sports, Aditya uses writing as a medium to actively participate in the domain he is so passionate about.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen