"I got embarrassed" - Smilla Sundell reflects on the exact moment she turned things around vs Natalia Diachkova
Smilla Sundell got her hand raised at ONE Fight Night 22. But despite finishing the fight in the second round, it certainly wasn't one-way traffic.
The toughness of the Swede was on full display as she fought through a difficult start to the fight to pull off the win.
After losing her ONE strawweight Muay Thai world championship on the scales, Sundell has a lot to prove in her main event clash inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
While she wasn't able to win back the belt, the title was still on the line for her opponent Natalia Diachkova, who once again came out the blocks fast with her aggressive style and boxing combinations.
During an interview on the ONE on SK podcast, Smilla Sundell broke down the fight and how she decided to turn up the heat in the second round after becoming frustrated.
The former world champion was kicked to the ground and decided that enough was enough:
"I had big, big trouble in the first round. And that continued in the first half of the second round. And then she hit me, and she did the back kick, and I was still [blurred out], and then I got angry there, I got embarrassed when I went to the ground, and from there, I knew I had to get this out."
Watch the full interview below:
Smilla Sundell came away from ONE Fight Night 22 with a lot of lessons learned
Her main event spotlight at ONE Fight Night 22 was a big learning experience for Smilla Sundell.
Of course, the most notable takeaway was that if she is going to make strawweight again, she needs more time to prepare for her training camp.
The other main note that the former champion took was that she needs to continue working on her boxing defense after Diachkova was able to tag her throughout the fight until Sundell landed that devastating body shot to end the fight.
It wasn't the cleanest performance from the 19-year-old prodigy but it did show her fighting spirit and ability to overcome adversity.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 22 via the free event replay.