“We’ve strongly considered it” – Chatri Sityodtong says ONE is eyeing ‘tremendous’ new talents for a women’s flyweight division 

ONE Championship founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed that the promotion is actively looking at talent to create a new women's flyweight division.

Scheduled to defend the ONE strawweight Muay Thai world title at ONE Fight Night 22, Smilla Sundell lost her gold on the scale after coming in over the strawweight limit. Since then, 'The Hurricane' has expressed her desire to regain the strawweight crown, but she also knows that making the 125-pound weight limit is not something she can do much longer.

Sundell would ultimately like to see ONE Championship establish a flyweight division. As it turns out, Sityodtong is not just open to the idea — they've been actively looking at available talent to make it one of the most competitive divisions in all of ONE.

"We’ve been looking at the flyweight division, and there are a lot of female flyweights out there that are tremendous and would give Smilla a tough time," Sityodtong told the South China Morning Post. "And in line with being the best of the best, we’ve strongly considered it."

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Could we see Chatri Sityodtong give Smilla Sundell a shot at reclaiming gold at ONE 168?

Though she came up short on the scale, Smilla Sundell more than succeeded in the Circle on May 3, scoring a vicious second-round knockout against 'Karelian Lynx' Natalia Diachkova. The victory moved her to 4-0 under the ONE Championship banner and improved her finish rate to an impressive 75%.

Despite knowing that her days of competing at strawweight are numbered, Sundell believes that she still has more to give before moving on to another weight class.

"I don’t think it will be the final one at strawweight but I do want the flyweight division a lot because I think I will be better at that weight, but I still want this belt," Sundell told Sportskeeda.

Chatri Sityodtong has expressed an interest in giving Sundell another shot at reclaiming the 125-pound title. When, where, and if that happens remains to be seen, but if 'The Hurricane' gets her wish, it'll be when ONE Championship makes its highly anticipated return to the United States on Friday, September 6 for ONE 168: Denver.

"I think at least two months I need to prepare so maybe America sounds good," Sundell added. "That’s my dream. Stamp [Fairtex] is fighting in Denver. It would be cool to fight on the same show but if not, I think Atlanta sounds cool too."