The 23-year-old Thai returns to her roots with Team Mehdi Zatout, where her journey to glory began, and a win would position her as the next challenger for Allycia Hellen Rodrigues’ ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai world title.
Prior to this fight, Phetjeeja had to defend her kickboxing throne against Kana Morimoto at ONE 172 last March in Tokyo. She scored a clinical unanimous decision victory while silencing a Japanese crowd. That trip to Tokyo gave her something more valuable than a title defense. It was a chance to reconnect with her former coach, Mehdi Zatout.
Misunderstandings outside the ring had kept the two at bay, forcing her to leave the camp in Pattaya in 2024. Phetjeeja briefly moved to Sor Dechapan Gym, but her heart never left Team Mehdi Zatout. When they reunited in Japan, old wounds began to heal. That moment proved what she had always known. Her former coach kept her best interests at heart even after their disagreements.
In October, she rejoined Team Mehdi Zatout, which couldn’t have come at a better time as she chases a second ONE world title. As phenomenal as she is at kickboxing, Phetjeeja does her best work in Muay Thai, where she can unleash devastating elbows and crushing clinching. Before switching to kickboxing, she went 4-0 in Muay Thai at ONE Friday Fights, finishing every opponent.
“It was the best feeling. It was a huge relief because fighting against Japanese opponents is always tough for me. Their style makes it difficult to fight; they are fast. Moreover, you don’t know what kind of game plan they will bring. So I was very happy to defend my title,” she said.
“When I was fighting in Japan, I was finally able to talk to Mehdi. Before that, we hadn’t talked at all, which left some unfinished business and misunderstandings. When I saw him, I missed the time when we took care of each other. When I did my warm-ups, Mehdi still came to me and coached me, just like before. He still cared about me and gave me advice.”
Phetjeeja is chasing glory in two sports against Martyna Dominczak
Phetjeeja is one of the pound-for-pound best female strikers in the world, having defeated legends Anissa Meksen and Janet Todd to capture and unify kickboxing gold. But despite all these achievements, a void remains that only ONE Muay Thai world title could fill.
She knows Dominczak is a serious threat. The Polish contender brings real danger, and both fighters want the same reward: a shot at Rodrigues. On December 5, during the final US primetime event of the year, only one will earn the prize.
“The training system of [Team Mehdi Zatout] is what I was used to and what I trained in the most. So I decided to come back here and train fully,” she said. “To be honest, I missed this place. It’s where I started, where we fought together, where we wrestled together, and where I became a champion. That’s how I feel about this place.”
“My dream is to win the ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship and become a ONE two-sport world champion. I believe if I perform well in this fight and get an impressive victory, I may get the opportunity to challenge Allycia Hellen Rodrigues in my next fight.”
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