Smilla Sundell still locked in on strawweight gold despite potential move to flyweight: "I don't think it'll be the final one"
Smilla Sundell may have her future plans targeted for the flyweight division, but that doesn't mean she is necessarily ready to move on just yet. The former ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion has done her best work at this weight class, but at 19 years old, she was always going to outgrow it at some stage.
Missing weight ahead of her main event this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 22 led to Sundell being stripped of her title.
Whilst she acknowledged that the creation of a flyweight Muay Thai division in ONE Championship would allow her to perform better, the former champ is still confident of her ability to make strawweight if given enough time to make the right preparations.
She spoke about how she isn't done with strawweight just yet in a post-fight interview with Nick Atkin for Sportskeeda MMA:
"I don't think it'll be the final one in strawweight. But I do want the flyweight division because I'll be better at that weight. But I still want this belt."
Watch the full interview below:
Smilla Sundell could be even better at flyweight
Her weight miss on the scales was a tough moment for Smilla Sundell, but she did everything she could to overshadow this setback with her performance inside the ring.
The former champion went through a tough opening round against Natalia Diachkova but was able to find the finish in the second.
As Sundell said herself, flyweight would seemingly allow her to perform even better without the tough weight cuts and strict preparations in training camp.
We could still be scratching the surface of what she is capable of, but the strawweight limit could be putting some limitations on that.
Flyweight is inevitable, but first, Sundell wants her belt back.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 22 via the free event replay.