ONE Fight Night 22: Smilla Sundell overcomes tough week to knock Natalia Diachkova through ropes after difficult opening round
- Swedish fighter missed weight ahead of the bout, tipping the scales at 1.5lbs (0.68kg) over
- Non-title fight meant she missed out on prize money of US$50,000 and gave her opponent 30 per cent of purse
Smilla Sundell capped off a difficult week with a come-from-behind victory over Natalia Diachkova at ONE Fight Night 22.
Having missed weight ahead of the bout, tipping the scales at 1.5lbs (0.68kg) over, she was stripped of her strawweight Muay Thai title and then endured a torrid opening round at Luminee Stadium.
Diachkova relied almost exclusively on her boxing in the opening round as she started landing hard punches right from the opening bell with Sundell struggling to find her range but the Russian displayed another side to her game in the second.
Blood was smeared over Sundell’s face and the damage to her left eye was visible and with the fight slipping away from her, she decided to fight fire with fire and trade punches with her opponent.
Sundell landed a left hook to the body and Diachkova was doubled up in agony as her opponent capitalised ruthlessly, sending her through the ropes with knees to the body forcing the referee to step in and stop the contest at 2:59 mark to cap a remarkable turnaround.
As the title was not on the line, Sundell missed out on a US$50,000 bonus and had to give 30 per cent of her fight purse to Diachkova.
“She got me, I saw double first round but I knew I could not lose,” the Swede said. “I really like to win and that’s what I did.”
Asked about the comments, Sundell replied: “I’m tall I know but it was kind of a short fight camp and I was very stressed throughout so my weight didn’t come off but if I get more notice for next fight I think I can do it again. What I want the most is another weight division but I still want my [strawweight] belt and I think I can do it one more time.”
Meanwhile, two unbeaten featherweights faced off in the co-main event with Akbar Abdullaev maintaining his perfect record, handing Halil Amir his first defeat with a second-round knockout.
And it was a mixed night for the Chinese fighters as Wei Rui scraped past former champion Hiroki Akimoto in their bantamweight kickboxing bout.
The Chinese southpaw established his left kick in the opening round but was clearly second best during the second stanza. Two of the three judges handed him the third, with the former K-1 lightweight champion claiming a split decision win on his ONE Championship debut.
But Hu Yong was not as fortunate as he went down to Reece McLaren. The Chinese flyweight had a strong opening round, dropping ONE Championship veteran twice with well timed hooks.
McLaren responded by switching stance and Yong struggled to land any further offence in the second and third rounds. Under ONE Championship scoring the fight is judged as a whole and the Australian got the nod from two of the three judges, earning a split decision win of his own.
There was no controversy in the lightweight fight between Zhang Lipeng and Maurice Abevi.
Despite a late rally from the Chinese fighter, he slipped to a decision loss with Abevi looking towards the upper echelons of the lightweight division while his opponent can forget about putting together a title run this year.
In the women’s atomweight division Chihiro Sawada once again demonstrated her title credentials as she dominated Noelle Grandjean from start to finish to earn a one sided decision win.
