ONE Fight Night 22 went down inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on May 3. While there was a lot of exciting fights on the card like Sinsamut Klinmee vs. Dmitry Menshikov and Hiroki Akimoto vs. Wei Rui, it was the main event that fans had their eyes on. The former Strawweight Muay Thai Champion Smilla Sundell fought against Russian fighter Natalia Diachkova.
Smilla Sundell vs Natalia Diachkova 🤯#ONEFightNight22 pic.twitter.com/jUXGi8nXgp
— Nikhil Chauhan (@nickiiciao) May 4, 2024
The former champ Smilla Sundell did not find it easy to tackle Diachkova’s pace. Natalia seemed stronger, faster, and more accurate with her striking, which seemed to rattle Sundell. The challenger dominated most of rounds one and two. In round two, Natalia even scored a big knockdown as well. However, the Swedish fighter showed the champion’s heart and hung around, which ultimately paid off.
Smilla Sundell wants a move to flyweight after win over Natalia Diachkova at ONE Fight Night 22
After the knockdown, Smilla Sundell seemed to change her entire approach to the bout. Instead of waiting for the openings to hurt Natalia Diachkova, Sundell applied pressure and walked forward.
The 19-year-old threw haymakers that Diachkova could not really defend and it was the beginning of the end. The Russian fighter had her back to the rope and ultimately stopped defending herself and stuck her head outside the ring, which forced the referee to stop the contest.
With the victory at ONE Fight Night 22, Sundell now has five wins in a row. It was quite a resilient performance against a tough opponent. During the bout, she also suffered quite a few heavy blows that led to her left eye being swollen shut. In the post-fight interview, Smilla addressed the issue as well.
Comeback queen 👑 Smilla Sundell STOPS Natalia Diachkova with a barrage of body shots! 💥💥
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 4, 2024
Watch the full ONE Fight Night 22 event replay:
🇺🇸🇨🇦 on Prime 👉 https://t.co/MDumXEdn9Y OR link in bio
🌍 on https://t.co/eBUfsOlZOd (geo-restrictions may apply) pic.twitter.com/HHQzSsknPb
Talking about her performance, she said, “Yeah, she got me, I saw double first round, second round, and you can see I can’t really from this eye. But yeah, I know I can not lose, I really like to win.”
However, it was quite a bittersweet moment for the Fairtex Gym member. She failed to make weight for the contest which led to her being stripped of the strawweight Muay Thai title. Although Smilla passed the hydration sample, she came in 1.5 lbs over the 125 lbs championship weight. Hence, after weighing in at 126.5lbs, ONE stripped the title off her.
Smilla Sundell added that she was stressed throughout the whole fight camp that led to a botched weight cut. But despite that, the 5’8 fighter came through and got the win. While Sundell definitely wants to win the Strawweight title, she has her eyes on the flyweight division. What do you think of that? Let us know in the comments below.