ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Champion Janet Todd is gunning for two-sport gold when she hits the ONE Championship stage on Friday, July 22, at ONE 159.
The Muay Thai gold has been elusive for the American, who covets the title as the “Art of Eight Limbs” is what got her started down the martial arts path. With Allycia Hellen Rodrigues away from the Circle since giving birth, the interim belt will give Todd another chance to claim glory.
But she is keenly aware of her debuting opposition, Lara Fernandez.
Janet Todd: “I envision myself with the belt at the end of the fight.”
“[Fernandez is] a good technical fighter. She’s fought some top-level competition. She’s, you know, currently a WBC titleholder,” Todd told ONE.
“And I think the advantage is she has some really good kicks during her exchanges with people. She’s a good forward pressure type of fighter.”
But the constant forward pressure may play into the style of the Boxing Works representative.
Todd is known for her cerebral approach inside the Circle. She is calculated with every movement and every strike. That is exactly how she plans to combat Fernandez’s onslaught inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“I think the strength that I have is my movement. To be able to get the angles that I want for my shots, and also the use of my combinations to create openings,” detailed Todd.
“It might not be open right at that moment, but then it can lend itself to creating other openings during the fight. So I think I can use those types of advantages in the fight.”
While Todd was not bold enough to stake a prediction on the contest, she is confident that she will be in control of both the kickboxing and Muay Thai world when all is said and done.
“I envision myself with the belt at the end of the fight. You know, that’s always the mentality that I go in with every fight. I envision, like, at the end of the fight, my hands being raised and feeling that heavy belt strapped over my shoulder.”
ONE 159 airs live and free on watch.onefc.com at 6 a.m. EST/3 a.m. PST on Friday, July 22.
