ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell scores stunning victory against Diachkova; Abdullaev crushes Amir to earn performance bonus
Smilla “The Hurricane” Sundell secured a remarkable TKO victory in the main event of ONE Fight Night 22 at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, but the triumph came with mixed emotions.
The 19-year-old Swedish star failed to make weight and had to forfeit her strawweight Muay Thai strap, so her contest against Natalia “Karelian Lynx” Diachkova was changed to a 126.5-pound catchweight bout.
In the opening frame, the Russian striker landed some fiery jabs and straight rights at Sundell’s face, dominating the round.
The second round unfolded similarly, but Sundell made a comeback toward the end and hit her opponent with a heavy right cross followed by a painful hook. A barrage of body shots then prompted referee Olivier Coste to stop the fight at 2:59 into the round.
This impressive victory bolstered Sundell’s career record to 36-5, including an undefeated streak of 5-0 at ONE.
Undefeated strikers Akbar “Bakal” Abdullaev and Halil “No Mercy” Amir squared off in a highly anticipated featherweight MMA showdown in the co-main event.
The first round saw both heavy hitters sizing each other up through exchanges inside the clinch and on the ground. Abdullaev showcased his wrestling prowess as he secured top position against his Turkish opponent and unleashed a flurry of punches.
At the 2:52 mark of the second round, though, the Krygyz star delivered a powerful left hand on Amir, sending him crashing to the canvas to secure his third consecutive knockout at ONE.
Abdullaev earned a US$50,000 performance bonus for this spectacular finish as he extended his overall unbeaten record to 11-0.
ONE Fight Night 22 Results:
- Smilla Sundell defeats Natalia Diachkova via TKO at 2:59 of round two (Muay Thai – catchweight 126.5 lbs)
- Akbar Abdullaev defeats Halil Amir via knockout at 2:52 of round two (MMA – featherweight)
- Dmitry Menshikov defeats Sinsamut Klinmee via knockout at 1:33 of round three (Muay Thai – lightweight)
- Maurice Abevi defeats Zhang Lipeng via unanimous decision (MMA – catchweight 174 lbs)
- Wei Rui defeats Hiroki Akimoto via unanimous decision (Kickboxing – bantamweight)
- Reece McLaren defeats Hu Yong via split decision (MMA – flyweight)
- Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong defeats Bogdan Shumarov via split decision (Kickboxing – lightweight)
- Chihiro Sawada defeats Noelle Grandjean via unanimous decision (MMA – atomweight)
- Zakaria El Jamari defeats Thongpoon PK Saenchai via unanimous decision (Muay Thai – strawweight)
- Bianca Basilio defeats Nanami Ichikawa via submission (rear-naked choke) at 0:35 of round one (Submission Grappling – catchweight 132 lbs)
- Sean Climaco defeats Josue Cruz via knockout at 2:06 of round one (Muay Thai – flyweight)