“It was very blurry” - Smilla Sundell admits Natalia Diachkova nearly had her in the first round of their ONE Fight Night 22 duel
Smilla Sundell just wrote her very own fairy tale.
After losing her coveted ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title on the scales, Sundell unleashed her frustrations when she fought Natalia Diachkova in the main event of ONE Fight Night 22.
Sundell captured a highlight knockout win, but it wasn't exactly a walk in the park for the Swedish sensation.
'The Hurricane' revealed in her post-fight interview that Diachkova would've captured the vacant throne if she hadn't survived the Russian's furious onslaught in the first round.
She said:
"Yeah, she got me good in the first round. I saw [it was] very blurry [in the] first round. In the second round, I was a bit shaky too as well. I don't know where I was hitting."
Diachkova was a perfect storm in the first round and clocked Sundell from every direction and had the crowd at the hallowed Lumpinee Boxing Stadium fearing the worst.
Nevertheless, Sundell survived the opening round and found her footing late in the second.
Diachkova was still her aggressive self, but Sundell found the opening in the dying seconds and uncorked a soul-snatching liver shot.
Sundell then unleashed an unstoppable flurry on Diachkova, forcing referee Olivier Coste to stop the fight 2:59 into the second round.
Smilla Sundell admits she struggled emotionally heading into ONE Fight Night 22
Smilla Sundell had probably the most difficult fight week of her career heading into ONE Fight Night 22.
The 19-year-old weighed 1.5 pounds over the 125-pound strawweight limit and was stripped of her ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title.
With such a fate brought upon her, Sundell admitted that she struggled emotionally mere hours before she faced Natalia Diachkova in Bangkok. She said:
"It's been hard this last day. I've been very sad, but I've had many people online, on social media that's been supporting me. And it means a lot to me. It kept me going today."