Smilla “The Hurricane” Sundell overcame her biggest test to date in the ONE Fight Night 22 main event in Bangkok, Thailand as she stopped Natalia Diachkova to continue her staggering rise.
The 19-year-old survived an early onslaught from the Russian knockout artist at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, but turned the tide to produce an emphatic second-round TKO victory.
Diachkova landed several clubbing right hands in the opening frame that reddened the face of the Swedish phenom, who struggled to figure out the footwork of her opponent.
Sundell settled down in the second round and began to find her rhythm as she focused her attack to her rival’s body. Her persistence paid off late in the stanza when she landed a crushing left hook to the body that folded Diachkova.
The referee waves off the fight after Sundell drops Diachkova
The teenager quickly seized the moment by unleashing a series of punches and knees, prompting the referee to wave off the fight with just one second left in the frame.
Though Sundell earned her 36th professional win, she did not leave with the ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title. The belt will remain vacant after the Swede was stripped of the gold due to missing weight just hours before the matchup.
“The Hurricane” lamented the mishap post-fight, flagging that her days at strawweight may 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 loss.
Akbar Abdullaev sends Halil Amir to the canvas
After a tense opening stanza between the featherweight MMA contenders, which saw a series of grappling exchanges largely dominated by Abdullaev, the Kyrgyz athlete exploded to leave Amir unconscious on the mat in round two.
As the pair separated from another wrestling tangle, Abdullaev uncorked a thunderous left hook that sent the Turkish standout crashing to the canvas.
No follow up shots were needed, as the Kyrgyz dynamo improved his professional record to 11-0 and preserved his 100 percent finishing rate.
Also, the 26-year-old was awarded the only US$50,000 performance bonus of the night for the crushing knockout, before calling for a showdown with ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai in his post-fight interview.
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