WATCH: Swedish phenom Smilla Sundell gets emotional with her sister, mom after inspiring TKO win over Natalia Diachkova
19-year-old Muay Thai star Smilla Sundell entered the biggest fight of her young career last Friday, May 3 at ONE Fight Night 22 where fans saw her championship-caliber resolve.
'The Hurricane' was on the receiving end of an offensive storm from Natalia Diachkova for the better part of two rounds. It certainly had some power behind it as Sundell had a knot above her right eyebrow by the end of the first round.
In a stunning turn of events, the Swedish youngster pulled off a TKO victory in the dying moments of round two and was visibly emotional in her post-fight celebrations after exiting the Circle.
In a video posted by ONE Championship, Sundell's mother and older sister were in tears over the unbelievable turnaround and basked in her moment backstage at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
Sundell was originally supposed to defend her ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title, but was sadly stripped of it during the weigh-ins as she was over the weight limit by 1.5 pounds, leaving Diachkova as the only one eligible to win the vacant world championship.
Smilla Sundell outlines her future career plans
It can be argued that Sundell is still just scratching the surface of her potential and while staying in the 125-pound division might be in the cards for her, Sundell foresees herself eventually moving up to flyweight soon.
She said the following in an interview with the South China Morning Post:
"Yeah, that's one of my goals. I really hope for that. I'm turning 20 this year. I signed the contract when I was 16. I've grown. Yes, I put on some muscle and I think I grew even taller."
Following her win over Diachkova, Sundell's promotional record now stands at a pristine 5-0 with three TKO finishes to her name.