Allycia Hellen Rodrigues was inspired by Angela Lee’s comeback as mom-champ

At ONE Fight Night 8 this past weekend, Allycia Hellen Rodrigues returned from a period of inactivity and proved that she hadn’t lost a step.

After debuting in ONE Championship back in 2020 and winning the atomweight Muay Thai world championship, Rodrigues decided to take some time away from competition to give birth to her first child.

With nearly three years away from the circle, returning and still competing at a high level would be no easy task, but the Brazilian persevered. Securing a unanimous decision victory over Janet Todd, she proved that it was possible.

In her post-event interview, Rodrigues said that she found inspiration in the similar feat of atomweight MMA world champion Angela Lee.

Angela Lee took a similar leave of absence to give birth before returning at ONE X last year and defeating Stamp Fairtex to defend the title that she had held for all those years.

Rodrigues said:

“You know how hard it is to come back from that situation, and I am inspired by Angela Lee. I saw the way she came back and how she kept the belt with her. I want to do the same and inspire people the way Angela inspired me.”

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Allycia Hellen Rodrigues says her corner was a huge factor in her victory

At ONE Fight Night 8, atomweight Muay Thai world champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues had a huge task on her hands.

Not only would she be returning after nearly three years away from competition due to giving birth to her first child, she would be jumping right back in at the deep end.

Scheduled to compete against two-sport world champion Janet Todd, Rodrigues would look to unify the division's world championships immediately after returning.

As if the task at hand wasn’t difficult enough, the Brazilian found herself down two to nothing in the opening rounds, with Todd’s kickboxing skillset causing her some issues.

Just like she did against Stamp Fairtex on her ONE Championship debut, Rodrigues reversed the story of the fight, changing the momentum in the third round and going on to win the final three rounds to have her arm raised at the end of the contest.

In her-post fight interview, the returning world champion gave the credit to her corner for managing to keep her on the right path in the fight:

“I knew she was going to start strong and fast. I just kept calm, and I listened to my corner. Listening to my corner helped me get the victory.”