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Natalia Diachkova believes she might have found a path to victory against Smilla Sundell through the clinch.
Over the past two years, Sundell has fought and won four times under the ONE Championship banner to become the women's strawweight Muay Thai world champion. Following a knockout win against Allycia Hellen Rodrigues, 'The Hurricane' looks to defend her throne again on May 3 at ONE Fight Night 22.
At 19 years old, Sundell has looked nearly unbeatable under the ONE banner. Yet, she can't overlook Diachkova, as the Russian holds a 4-0 promotional record, including three-first-round knockouts on the ONE Friday Fights circuit.
During an interview with ONE, Natalia Diachkova explained a potential path to victory against Sundell by saying:
"She just uses her hands to get what she wants. I didn't see any cool clinch work from her, maybe I'll win by clinching her for 5 rounds, who knows?"
Smilla Sundell's latest outing featured a unanimous decision win against ONE women's atomweight Muay Thai world champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues in September 2023. Meanwhile, Natalia Diachkova is coming off a quick turnaround after securing a first-round knockout against Chellina Chirino on March 15.
Who else is fighting at ONE Fight Night 22 besides Natalia Diachkova and Smilla Sundell?
In the ONE Fight Night 22 co-main event, undefeated featherweight contenders Akbar Abdullaev and Halil Amir look to separate themselves from the rest of the division. The judges probably won't be needed for this matchup, as they hold a combined four finishes in their five promotional outings.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Prime Video event also features Sinsamut vs. Dmitry Menshikov (lightweight Muay Thai), Maurice Abevi vs. Zhang Lipeng (lightweight MMA), Hiroki Akimoto vs. Wei Rui (bantamweight kickboxing), and more.
ONE Fight Night 22 goes down inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The May 3 event can be seen live and for free by North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
