Marie McManamon from London experienced a setback in her quest for history during her ONE Championship debut at Fight Night 29 in Bangkok. She faced Brazil’s Allycia Hellen Rodrigues for a world title but was ultimately overcome.
McManamon, aged 34, aimed to become the first British woman to secure ONE Championship gold as she competed for the Atomweight Muay Thai championship.
However, Rodrigues proved to be too dominant. She effectively used powerful roundhouse kicks, strong boxing combinations, and sharp elbows and knees to overwhelm McManamon, leading to a TKO victory at the end of the fourth round.
In the first round, both fighters primarily stayed in the center of the ring, exchanging teeps, roundhouse kicks, and low kicks.
McManamon showed great effort, but Rodrigues (left) was ultimately stronger.
McManamon, who took the fight with only two weeks’ notice, increased her aggression at the start of the second round, landing body and head kicks.
However, Rodrigues shifted the momentum, landing powerful jabs, left hooks to the head, and crosses to the face and body. She further intensified her attack in the third round.
Towards the end of the third round, a head kick staggered McManamon, followed by a series of punches, ending with a left hook, which knocked her down for an eight-count. Despite this, she bravely returned to her feet.
McManamon remained composed and valiantly traded blows in the fourth round. But Rodrigues continued to punish her with knees to the stomach and a relentless attack in the corner and against the ropes. The fight was then stopped between rounds.
Marcus Bellamy