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Ekaterina Vandaryeva sees a bit of herself in ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion Smilla Sundell.
The Belarusian martial artist drew some similarities between her meteoric rise and the promotion’s youngest-ever Muay Thai divisional queen. This came shortly after earning her lone promotional victory on the global stage.
Ekaterina Vandaryeva, who picked up her first of three Muay Thai world titles as a 20-year-old in November 2011, was asked about her assessment of the teenage star’s skill set during a post-fight chat with the South China Morning Post.
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While praising the 19-year-old athlete, the Gridin Gym representative went on to add:
“She's young, she's young and crazy, you know, just like young blood and, like, when I think about myself in my transition to who I am today, I was pretty similar like I didn't have a lot of technique, but at the same time I had my power, I had my willpower too, and I was just going forward with non-stop action.”
Watch the full interview here:
She concluded:
“ I was just like smashing everything. But at the same time, as we're getting older, we have more thoughts, we have more responsibilities, and we have more things to think about.”
Relive Ekaterina Vandaryeva’s epic win at ONE Fight Night 20
Despite going on a 0-4 run on the global stage of ONE Championship, Ekaterina Vandaryeva was still motivated to taste victory in the promotion.
That said, her run of defeats only came to the very best the promotion has to offer in Iman Barlow, Anna Jaroonsak, Janet Todd, and Jackie Buntan.
With her back against the wall, the veteran striker and three-time Muay Thai world champion delivered one of her most impressive performances to date when ONE Fight Night 20 blessed the revered Lumpinee Boxing Stadium with a special female-only showcase last Friday, March 8.
The 33-year-old saw off Polish striker Martyna Kierczynska via unanimous decision after a nail-biting three-round strawweight Muay Thai contest to leave the venue with her hand raised.
North American fans who missed any of the action can relive the epic night for free via Amazon Prime Video.
