I’ll Play the Right Game To Win” – Allycia Hellen Rodrigues Reveals Her Strategy to Solve the Smilla Sundell Puzzle

Current ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues is gearing up for a challenging move up in weight to vie for two-division glory in what appears to be the toughest test of her career.

At ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video, scheduled for this Friday, the Brazilian striker will step into the ring to challenge Smilla ‘The Hurricane’ Sundell for her strawweight Muay Thai crown. The event will be broadcast live in U.S. primetime from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Allycia Hellen Rodrigues bares her path to overcoming Smilla Sundell

Rodrigues acknowledges that she’s in for a fierce battle against the 18-year-old Swedish sensation, who has been nothing short of dominant in her three appearances in ONE. She’s quick to highlight Sundell’s excellent boxing and knee strikes. However, Rodrigues also notes that her opponent struggles in the clinch and, at kicking from a distance, two areas where the Brazilian excels.

She explained: “[Sundell] has good boxing and uses her knees well. She moves forward [and has] good hands, but I don’t think her clinch and kicks are very good, also because I feel that she relies more on her hands and knees. So I need to be careful with her hands and knees. The strategy is to hit her at the same time and manage to close the distance.” Rodrigues is also aware that she’ll be giving up 5 inches in height and 7 inches in reach to Sundell. While these advantages may exist on paper, Rodrigues anticipates that their constant forward movement will nullify them.

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

For this reason, she predicts that fans can expect an action-packed, all-out brawl: “As I mentioned, her height poses a lot of difficulties for her opponents. She’s smart and uses her reach well while being aggressive. What’s most similar in our game is our forward-moving style. But lately, I’ve been working a lot on my boxing too. Smilla plays a similar game, which is why I believe our fight will be five rounds of intense striking.”

Rodrigues is exerting confidence before her ONE Fight Night 14 clash 

In the end, the Brazilian champion is confident that with the right strategy, determination, and grit, she can defeat ‘The Hurricane’ and return from Singapore as a two-division ONE World Champion:

Read More: 3 Underrated Matchups To Watch Out for at ONE Fight Night 14

“I want to challenge myself in this fight and show that I can present different styles. I know it will be a tough fight, but I’ll employ the right strategy to secure the victory.”