Allycia Hellen Rodrigues admires her ‘idol’ Phetjeeja for fighting boys early in her career

ONE atomweight Muay Thai world champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues admires rising star Phetjeeja, who she saw competing and holding her own against boys early in her career.

The Brazilian champion shared this in an interview with the South China Morning Post, telling how impressed she was of the Thai phenom’s growth as a fighter.

Speaking for Allycia Hellen Rodrigues, coach Leo Elias said of Phetjeeja:

“We know Phetjeeja a long time ago, [when] she's not [the star] that she is now these days. Before, she was even fighting with boys. She was her idol, you know.”

Check out the interview below:

Phetjeeja, 21, introduced herself to ONE fight fans with back-to-back impressive technical knockout victories earlier this year in her ONE Friday Fights matches.

The twin victories earned her a six-figure contract to be part of the promotion’s main roster. In her main event debut back in July, ‘The Queen’ only took 26 seconds to finish Lara Fernandez of Spain with punches to earn another TKO victory.

Meanwhile, Allycia Hellen Rodrigues goes for another world title when she returns to action on September 29 at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video.

She will challenge for the ONE strawweight Muay Thai gold against reigning champion Smilla Sundell of Sweden at the event happening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues is coming off a successful unification of the atomweight Muay Thai world title belts in March, beating erstwhile interim world champion Janet Todd of the United States by unanimous decision.

Smilla Sundell, for her part, is making a first defense of the world title she won in April last year.

ONE Fight Night 14 is available live and for free to Prime Video subscribers in North America.