Janet Todd's Ongoing ONE Success Mirrors Two-Sport Legacy of Holly Holm

Reigning ONE atomweight kickboxing champion Janet Todd made history last Friday, July 22 when she defeated promotional newcomer Lara Fernandez for the right to be called the interim queen of the atomweight Muay Thai division.

The achievement made Todd the third-ever fighter in ONE Championship’s history to become a two-sport champion, but she recognized that what she carries around her waist is still just an interim title.

With that in mind, Todd is targeting a unification bout with Allycia Hellen Rodrigues once she returns from her maternity leave.

“I would like to unify the belts [first], especially since this is an interim, and it’d be cool to actually be able to get the world title from Allycia [Rodrigues]. I want to unify the belts and defend my kickboxing belt. Both are in my cards,” Todd said in a recent interview.

Becoming the undisputed champion in two disciplines would further boost her already impressive resume.

Beating Rodrigues in a high-stakes bout will also serve a purpose of legitimizing her claim to both sports while also showcasing that she has nothing left to prove to her would-be detractors.

Should Todd pull off the win against Rodrigues when they match up, her career trajectory is going to be similar to that of fellow American and two-sport queen Holly Holm.

Prior to becoming one of the most feared female bantamweights in mixed martial arts (MMA), Holm was tearing up the boxing scene.

Starting her career in January 2002 with a TKO win, Holm went on to amass a record of seven wins, one loss and two draws before winning her first boxing title: the inaugural IBA female light welterweight title.

By the time she hung up her boxing gloves to focus on MMA, she had a total of 16 title defenses amongst three different weight classes and was recognized as the World Boxing Federation’s Female Fighter of the Year in 2012.

Three years after winning the award, “The Preacher’s Daughter” reached the pinnacle of women’s MMA and mainstream popularity when she handed Ronda Rousey her first-ever loss by knocking her out at UFC 193 in November 2015.

The win over Rousey allowed Holm to show that her boxing pedigree translated well in the realm of MMA and was able to hold titles in two different sports.

Todd has already done that to a certain degree by winning the interim belt and her focus in the coming weeks will be to campaign for a unification bout with Rodrigues.