Janet Todd tells women: “If I can do it, you can do it”

Smart, articulate, passionate, and driven, Janet Todd is the perfect role model for every young woman.

The double-world champion is currently en-route to unifying her atomweight belt this Friday, at ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video against the current Muay Thai queen Allycia Hellen Rodrigues. It’s going to be another memorable and historic night for Todd, as she attempts to realize her goal as the undisputed divisional queen.

As fans remember, the American superstar had to dig deep to get herself out of the trenches and into the top rankings in Muay Thai and kickboxing. Todd began her ONE journey back in February 2019, with the same illusion of becoming a world-class champion. But in her first try at gold, she failed to beat Stamp Fairtex for the inaugural ONE atomweight Muay Thai world title.

Disillusioned at first, but by no means dejected, ‘JT’ went back to the drawing board and shifted all of her energy to kickboxing. After three consecutive wins, Todd avenged her loss in 2022, defeating Stamp by split-decision for the kickboxing world title.

Turning her focus back to Muay Thai, Todd would eventually earn a second world title opportunity to fight for the interim Muay Thai belt in July 2022. After five rounds of intense action, ‘JT’ scored the victory by unanimous decision to become the second woman in ONE history to hold two belts simultaneously.

In honor of International Women’s Day, Janet Todd hopes her legacy in ONE Championship serves to inspire other young women to pursue martial arts and achieve their dreams.

She told ONE:

“Yeah, I hope people can see what I do and say, yeah, I can do that. Or even say, yeah, I could do that better. I could be the next champion. This helps the sport grow because compared to men, there's not as many women competing. ONE Championship is a great platform, but I hope the sport continues to grow through some of these major promotions like ONE Championship. And, yeah, I hope people get inspired to compete. If I can do it, you can do it.”

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Janet Todd say’s she isn’t looking for a knockout but for a dominant and technical finish

Janet Todd admitted recently that she’s not going out of her way to find the knockout when she squares off with Allycia Hellen Rodrigues this Friday.

According to the American veteran, you can’t force a knockout to happen when the essence of the sport goes hand-in-hand with artistic expression.

As we’ve seen time and time again, ‘JT’ likes to showcase the beauty of the sport with her range of weapons and techniques. If you get a quick knockout, fans might not be able to appreciate the key aspects of what makes Muay Thai so unique.

Speaking to ONE, Janet Todd explained:

“Everybody wants a knockout, but you can’t really search for it during the fight. It just has to naturally come. It’s [about] showing that fluidity and movement and technique, and also showing that I have power with my shots and accuracy.”

Watch Janet Todd vs. Allycia Hellen Rodrigues this Friday, March 24 at ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video. American audiences can watch the explosive event live and for free with an Amazon Prime subscription.