ONE Fight Night 20: Phetjeeja Explains How She Overcame Pressure To Defeat Janet Todd

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At ONE Fight Night 20, "The Queen" Phetjeeja made her nickname a reality when she unified the ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Title against former champ Janet Todd across a five-round masterclass.

The 22-year-old Thai phenom notched the unanimous decision win against the American legend last Saturday, 9 March, ushering in a new era with Phetjeeja at the helm. Defeating Todd was no small task. Across 214 bouts, this was her biggest moment. But when the bell rang, Phetjeeja didn't hesitate.

"Of course, there was a lot of pressure for me because [Janet Todd] was also the champion," Phetjeeja said. "I just kept telling myself not to think about the fight and not to stress out as much and to just go with the flow."

With a record of 208-6, hype comes natural. But after unifying the World Title, Phetjeeja added another decorated striker in Todd to her win column. Her first was legendary kickboxer Anissa Meksen.

"Both of them are very strong and were both challenging. I can't compare both of them and decide which one was the most challenging, but I would think that they're both challenging in different ways. I'm very happy to be able to get past both challenges," Phetjeeja said.

From here on, though, the names and the fights are only going to get tougher. On top of that, Phetjeeja's name has now entered super-fight conversations. And she believes a showdown with ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues is around the corner.

The pair were successful in their respective outings at ONE Fight Night 20, where both women picked up dominant unanimous decision victories. Rodrigues once attempted to double her gold against strawweight Muay Thai ruler Smilla Sundell, but now it's Phetjeeja who has her eyes on the Brazilian's crown.

"I think there's a high chance of [Allycia Hellen Rodrigues and me] facing each other soon, champion versus champion. I think it's more likely that I'll go for the Muay Thai belt," she said.