As Allycia Hellen Rodrigues Steps In for Jackie Buntan, Smilla Sundell Gets New Opponent on Her First World Title Defense

Smilla Sundell’s first defense of the ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title will look slightly different than originally planned, but it will still undoubtedly produce a banger.

Top contender Jackie Buntan was scheduled to rematch “The Hurricane,” but the American star recently announced she had to pull out due to a personal matter.

Smilla Sundell’s new opponent for her first world title defense

Atomweight Muay Thai queen Allycia Hellen Rodrigues has now gamely stepped in to challenge the Swedish teenage sensation at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Friday, September 29th. Sundell claimed the inaugural throne against Buntan in April 2022. The 18-year-old striker displayed incredible skill and dominance to put her stamp on the match and become the youngest-ever ONE World Champion at ONE 156.

Though her old rival is no longer going to stand opposite her at ONE Fight Night 14, Sundell’s task hasn’t been made any easier with her new opponent. Rodrigues made a statement in her debut in the world’s largest martial arts organization when she took the ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship from Stamp Fairtex in September 2020. She took a leave of absence shortly after to start a family but returned in spectacular form at ONE Fight Night 8 earlier this year.

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The Brazilian striker took on the interim titleholder of her division, Janet Todd, in a unification bout that evening, and she ended the American’s seven-fight winning streak to show the world that she hadn’t missed a beat. Rodrigues now has a golden opportunity to conquer a second weight class with a win over Sundell. The Fairtex product will certainly do everything in her power to stay on top of the division, though, as she also has designs on adding more gold to her collection. She took the first step towards that goal in her latest appearance in ONE, winning her kickboxing debut in the promotion of this past May.

Sundell vs Rodrigues is one of the four elite matchups for the night

The showdown between Sundell and Rodrigues will be one of four marquee matchups at ONE Fight Night 14 to feature some of the world’s best female fighters. At the top of the card, top-ranked contender Stamp Fairtex and the #2-ranked Ham Seo Hee will battle it out for the ONE Interim Women’s Atomweight World Title.

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The inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion will also be crowned when Danielle Kelly welcomes former rival Jessa Khan to ONE. And last but certainly not least, strawweight MMA queen Xiong Jing Nan will compete in a special-rules striking contest against Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak.