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Janet Todd is an admirer of her fellow atomweights in mixed martial arts but won't be making the transition to MMA anytime soon.
'JT' will attempt to win her second belt in ONE Championship when she takes on Lara Fernandez for the ONE Interim Atomweight Muay Thai World Title at ONE 159 on July 22. The American beat Stamp Fairtex to win the ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Title in 2020. Stamp was the organization's first-ever two-sport world champion, having also held the strap in Muay Thai before choosing to focus primarily on MMA.
Angela Lee was the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion in MMA having won the belt in 2016. She's held it ever since and also competed for the strawweight belt in 2019.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with SportsKeeda, Janet Todd said:
“I like Stamp and I like Angela Lee and I like the MMA girls in that division too so sometimes I watch it. I just personally will not get into it. It’s just not one of the things that I love. It’s a tough sport and if you’re not all in then bad things happen.”
Mixed-rule fights have become a popular topic in recent times following Demetrious Johnson's submission victory over ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon at ONE X in March. But judging by Janet Todd's stance on MMA, it sounds as though she'd rather stick solely to the pure striking arts for now.
Janet Todd says "every fighter has a list"
The Californian's history with Stamp Fairtex goes back to 2019 when she was in her ONE debut competing with the Thai native for the ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Title before avenging that defeat a year later in kickboxing.
When asked if she had a mental list that might include a trilogy with Fairtex, she said,
“Of course I have a list. I think every fighter has a list of goals that they want to achieve. But when I have a fight coming up I’m really focussed on that fight in front of me before I start thinking more and more about the future. But there’s definitely people I'd like to fight after.”
Stamp has made it clear that her primary focus is winning the world title in MMA, but she's also adamant about wanting to come back and regain both the belts she lost in kickboxing and Muay Thai.
With Fernandez an exciting and decorated debutant, ONE atomweight kickboxing champion Allycia Rodrigues, still to return following the birth of her baby boy as well as the likes of multiple-time world champion Anissa Meksen all in the title picture in the mix with Janet Todd herself, there promises to be some fascinating match-ups on the horizon.
Watch the full interview below:
