In the main event of ’ONE: A New Breed’, Rodrigues won by majority decision and broke out into tears of joy when the verdict was called.
A clearly unhappy and upset Fairtex stormed out of the ring and to hospital on doctors orders due to a nasty nose injury.
It crowned a miserabe year for Fairtex who began 2020 as a double champion but has now lost both the atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing belts after this defeat and her loss to Janet Todd in Singapore back in February.
For Rodrigues though it was nothing but smiles as she made good on her promise to emerge from the bout victorious: “I’m going to win this belt,” she had stated pre-fight.
She carried her meticulous game plan into the ring and managed to subdue Fairtex in the early rounds before emerging victorious via the majority verdict, taking her record to 31-5 in the process.
The 22-year-old Brazilian, who fights out of Phuket Fight Club in Chalong, was humble in victory by referring to her opponent Fairtex as “a great champion.”
She also had praise for her support network and fans when she said: “Thank you so much for all the support, for all the fans. I knew I could do that and I showed it today.”