“That shocked me” – Smilla Sundell admits getting overwhelmed by the sheer power of Natalia Diachkova’s strikes
Former ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world champion 'The Hurricane' Smilla Sundell of Sweden recalls her last fight, wherein she faced the toughest test of her young career yet and even lost her coveted golden belt.
Sundell took on hard-hitting Russian veteran 'Karelian Lynx' Natalia Diachkova at ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova on Prime Video a few weeks ago and won a second-round technical knockout.
However, Sundell was pushed to the limit like never before and was in serious trouble for the majority of the contest before she turned things around. To make matters worse, 'The Hurricane' also lost the strawweight Muay Thai belt on the scales the day before the fight, when she failed to pass weight and hydration.
Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA in an exclusive interview, Sundell says she was surprised at how tough Diachkova was.
'The Hurricane' stated:
"I’ve seen all her fights at ONE Friday Fights, and she comes in very strong every time. I was expecting that, but I wasn’t expecting how hard she hit. That shocked me."
It was no doubt Sundell's hardest battle in the world's largest martial arts organization.
Where the 19-year-old Swedish sensation goes from here is anyone's guess. However, Sundell has expressed interest in trying to reclaim her strawweight gold before deciding whether or not to move up a weight class.
Smilla Sundell on being dominated early against Natalia Diachkova: "I got embarrassed"
'The Hurricane' Smilla Sundell had never been in a tougher battle than the one she had with Natalia Diachkova at ONE Fight Night 22.
The 19-year-old phenom talked about the experience. Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA, she said:
"I had big, big trouble in the first round. And that continued in the first half of the second round. And then she hit me, and she did the back kick, and I was still [blurred out], and then I got angry there, I got embarrassed when I went to the ground, and from there, I knew I had to get this out."