Five rounds of Muay Thai are a different beast entirely. Phetjeeja ‘The Queen’ Lukjaoporongtom found that out the hard way at The Inner Circle 19 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
She pushed Allycia Hellen Rodrigues to the limit in stretches, landing sharp right hands in the second and fourth rounds and making the Brazilian work through every minute of a gruelling five-round atomweight Muay Thai world title war.
But as the rounds stacked up, a separate battle was being fought internally.
Phetjeeja had been competing regularly in kickboxing, but the specific demands of a traditional five-round Muay Thai fight had not been part of her reality for years.
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Slower pace, more clinch, different rhythm, different energy system. Her body simply hadn’t been primed for it.
After coming up short via a narrow split decision, the atomweight kickboxing world champion told Muay Thai Around The World:
“I realized tonight that my conditioning for a full five-round traditional Muay Thai fight wasn’t where it needed to be. This was my first time going the full five rounds in Muay Thai in a very long time… For Kickboxing, it’s been about a year or a year and a half. But for traditional five-round Muay Thai? It’s been several years. A really long time. So we can look at this fight as a way to shake off the rust.”
Phetjeeja admits she was taken aback by Allycia Hellen Rodrigues’ physicality
Phetjeeja knew the clinch is Allycia Hellen Rodrigues’ biggest strength.
However, the Thai superstar didn’t expect to be outmuscled by the Brazilian mom-champ in close quarters.
‘The Queen’ said in the same interview:
“If we’re talking about pure strength, honestly, she isn’t that much stronger than me. I felt I could hold my own against her inside. But when it came to the force of impact during collisions, I lacked that.”
The Inner Circle replay is available for Inner Circle Superfan Club members at live.onefc.com
Edited by Aziel Karthak