Smilla Sundell breaks down her brilliant body shot finishing sequence against Natalia Diachkova: "That made me confused"
Former women's strawweight Muay Thai queen Smilla Sundell added another incredible moment to her young career after a stellar come-from-behind TKO victory over Natalia Diachkova last weekend. But before her highlight-reel finish, 'The Hurricane' had to weather some serious adversity from the Russian heavy-hitter.
Diachkova clipped Sundell multiple times in the opening frame and had Sundell's left eye nearly swollen shut. Sundell turned the tables around in round two and the rest, as we now know, is history.
Speaking in her ONE Fight Night 22 post-event interview, the Swedish phenom recalled her dazzling fight-ending sequence against the 'Karelian Lynx':
"Yes, it was the end of the round. But she went into the ropes after I saw she got hurt in the body. If she would have [fell] to the ground she would have gotten the eight counts, but she didn't. She went to the ropes."
To be fair, Diachkova had her head outside the ropes after that liver blow from hell and the ensuing strikes that followed, prompting referee Olivier Coste to halt the fight.
Smilla Sundell admitted it threw her off, but understands that her opponent likely wouldn't have survived the count. She added:
"That made me confused. Because then the referee would have stopped the fight. But I was like, I just had to keep going until he stopped it. Because she couldn't stand up if she [after] eight counts, I think."
Smilla Sundell won despite compromised vision
Making Sundell's victory even more impressive was the fact that she fought with one good eye after getting tagged repeatedly by Diachkova.
'The Hurricane' revealed:
"She got me. I saw double in the first round and the second round. Yeah, you could just see I can't really see from this side"
Watch Smilla Sundell's full interview:
The replay of ONE Fight Night 22 is free on demand for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.