"I wasn't sure what was going on" - Smilla Sundell admits Natalia Diachkova's power got the better of her
Smilla Sundell knew she was staring at defeat after making it to her corner following a one-sided beatdown from Natalia Diachkova in the opening round of their ONE Fight Night 22 clash.
After all, the former ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion could not find an exit door from the Russian's accurate striking inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 3.
When she tried, the Team Mehdi Zatout warrior stalked her with left, rights, kicks, or sometimes, even both in quick succession.
Looking back at the turbulent opening three minutes and the interval just before she stepped back into action for the second stanza, Smilla Sundell said:
"Yeah, she won. Definitely. She won this first round. Yeah, oh, my God, no, no. Here, yes, it's when I get back to the ring. That's where I wasn’t sure what was going on.
"Here, everything's spinning, punch, punch and knee, I think. My game plan was punch and knees."
Watch the interview here:
Fortunately, time was on her side to reverse fortunes in the following round. Albeit, only in the dying seconds of it.
After being backed by 'Karelian Lynx's' striking prowess once more, the Fairtex Training Center athlete flipped the script in the blink of an eye, starting her finishing sequence with a hard right cross and a final salvo of strikes to bring the tie to a stop at 2:59 of the frame.
However, because she was stripped of her gold after missing weight, the Swedish powerhouse was ineligible to walk away with the world title.
Smilla Sundell says insane comeback triumph was down to pure anger
Being an athlete who strives for perfection, Smilla Sundell wasn't one bit happy with how the first three minutes of their tie unfolded.
Still, she could do little to minimalize any traffic that came her way. But after being sent to the canvas early, 'The Hurricane' knew that she needed to seek vengeance to pull herself back into the tie.
The 19-year-old Swede told the promotion previously:
"I don't know what I was doing in the fight. I just knew I went to the floor once. And that got me very angry."