The main event of ONE Fight Night 22 has barnburner written all over it as Smilla Sundell returns to defend her ONE strawweight Muay Thai world championship.
She has become well-known during her prior appearances under the ONE banner for her technical but aggressive style that always makes for entertaining contests.
In order to keep that reputation going, she draws the perfect opponent in the form of surging contender Natalia Diachkova.
Diachkova has made her name competing on the ONE Friday Fights series where her boxing and aggression have also been her stand-out traits.
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In an interview with ONE Championship, strawweight MMA contender Lito Adiwang weighed in with his thoughts on the fight.
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Adiwang said that while he expects this to be a great contest for the strawweight crown, he sees the queen leaving with her belt once again:
"This will be a great fight, a back-and-forth fight, but I'm still giving the edge to the champ."
Smilla Sundell shows no signs of slowing down, ever in some ways
Smilla Sundell has proven herself to be enduring both in terms of her title reign and her performances inside the Circle.
The strawweight Muay Thai world champion is still just 19 years old and is still getting better with each training camp that she goes through.
Unfortunately for her opponents, she's already proven herself to be an elite striker with an unmatched gas tank so any chances of catching her before she reaches her full potential are tough asks.
The question for Diachkova in this fight is whether she can turn it into a fight and really test the heart of the champion.
Smilla Sundell isn't going to back down from this but it might be the challenger's best hope in leaving Lumpinee Stadium with the strawweight gold.
ONE Fight Night 22 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.
