Smilla “The Hurricane” Sundell overcame her biggest test yet in the ONE Fight Night 22 main event in Bangkok, Thailand, stopping Natalia Diachkova to continue her meteoric rise.
The 19-year-old survived an early knockout attack from the Russian at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, but turned the tide to claim an emphatic second-round TKO victory.
Diachkova landed several clubbing right hands in the opening third, which reddened the face of the Swedish phenom, who was struggling to understand her opponent’s footwork.
Sundell settled into the second round and began to find her rhythm as she focused her attack on her rival’s body. Her persistence paid off late in the stanza when she landed a crushing left hook to the body that bent Diachkova.
Referee abandons fight after Sundell drops Diachkova
The teenager quickly rose to the occasion by unleashing a series of punches and knees, prompting the referee to end the fight with just one second left in the frame.
Although Sundell earned her 36th professional victory, she did not walk away with the ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai world title. The belt will remain vacant after the Swede was stripped of gold due to missing weight just hours before the match.
“The Hurricane” lamented the post-fight incident, pointing out that his days at strawweight could be numbered due to a recent growth spurt.
In the co-main event, undefeated star Akbar Abdullaev emerged victorious and handed Halil Amir his first professional defeat.
Akbar Abdullaev sends Halil Amir to the canvas
After a tense opening stanza between the MMA featherweight contenders, which saw a series of grappling exchanges largely dominated by Abdullaev, the Kyrgyz athlete exploded to leave Amir unconscious on the mat in the second round.
As the two men separated from another wrestling tangle, Abdullaev uncorked a thunderous left hook that sent the Turkish player crashing to the canvas.
No follow-up shots were needed as the Kyrgyz dynamo improved their professional record to 11-0 and maintained their 100 percent finishing rate.
Additionally, the 26-year-old received the night’s only US$50,000 performance bonus for the crushing knockout, before calling for a showdown with ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai in his interview with post-fight.
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