"She got me good" - Smilla Sundell reveals Natalia Diachkova shut her left eye off in intense back and forth at ONE Fight Night 22
Former strawweight Muay Thai queen Smilla Sundell didn't return home unscathed after defeating Russian striker Natalia Diachova last Friday at ONE Fight Night 22. The 19-year-old superstar absorbed a lot more damage than she expected against Diachkova, despite finding the finish with one second left in the second round.
On Friday, as she made her exit from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Sundell was approached by ONE Championship about the injury she sustained to her left eye during her fiery encounter with Diachkova.
She laughed it off with the following statement:
"Can't really see from this eye, she got me good, but I got the finish, so that's what matters."
During the non-title bout, Diachkova used every weapon in her book - from jabs to power punches to left-spinning kicks - to get the quick knockout and capture the vacant ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title.
Diachkova almost succeeded, closing Sundell's left eye in the process. However, that didn't stop 'The Hurricane' from surviving what many fighters in her shoes couldn't.
She debilitated her Russian opposition with big power punches to the body, folding Diachkova over the ropes with a body shot to the liver to end the fight.
Unfortunately, Sundell returned home without her belt for missing weight on the scales but she intends to get it back as soon as she's ready to return.
Smilla Sundell hopes a heavier weight class is created after missing weight for ONE Fight Night 22
It's no secret that Smilla Sundell took the news hard when she lost her ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title for going over one pound during the weigh-ins.
For a 19-year-old fighter, it's a traumatic experience, especially after working so hard to make weight at this point of her career.
However, as her coaches previously stated, Sundell is still undergoing a major growth spurt. She hasn't fully settled into her natural weight class.
As such, there's only so much that Sundell can do as a strawweight before moving up. The problem is, there's no flyweight division. Speaking to Sportskeeda, she said:
"What I want the most is another weight division. But I still want my [strawweight] belt and I think I can do it one more time."