"Fighting from her heart" - Fans love Smilla Sundell's otherworldly determination in comeback KO of Natalia Diachkova
Former ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world champion Smilla Sundell pulled off a comeback finish for the ages last Friday, May 3 at ONE Fight Night 22 against Natalia Diachkova.
In a series of events that few thought would happen, 'Karelian Lynx' was piecing up Sundell early in the contest with some hard blows as the 19-year-old Swedish star seemed unsure of how to respond to Diachkova.
'The Hurricane' did not give up though as she mounted a comeback late in the second round that turned into a TKO finish with just a few seconds remaining and ONE Championship shared the aftermath from Sundell's perspective.
In that same post, fans shared their reactions to Sundell's victory with comments like:
"To me She didn't seem to be at top spirit on the first round. Good thing she came back on the next. ๐๐ช"
"๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅfighting from her heart and hard training"
"But to be honest @diachkovalynx is a strong fighter. See the punches."
"@smilla_fairtex You are a badass warrior ๐"
For context, Sundell lost her world championship on the scales ahead of the event as she weighed in 1.5 pounds over the 125-pound strawweight limit, which left Diachkova being the only one eligible to win the world title.
Smilla Sundell acknowledges Natalia Diachkova's power
After their marquee matchup inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Sundell gave Diachkova her props in a post-fight interview with the South China Morning Post:
"Natalia is one of the strongest I fought. They're all different. Natalia has good boxing, very good boxing. But I think she also had her teeps, which looks to have got me to the floor too. But that's just me off balance."
Sundell's ONE Championship record now stands at 5-0 with three TKO victories to her name.