Smilla Sundell eyes a fight vs. Ekaterina Vandaryeva for vacant strawweight Muay Thai crown: “That can be something”

Swedish phenom Smilla Sundell is dead set in reclaiming the ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title. To do so, she is eyeing a showdown with Belarusian fighter Ekaterina Vandaryeva.

'The Hurricane' was forced to vacate the strawweight Muay Thai gold in her last match earlier this month for missing weight. She was supposed to defend the world title against Russia's Natalia Diachkova. The bout was eventually fought at a catchweight of 126.5 pounds.

Despite the setback, Smilla Sundell went with her business and steadily worked in tearing down Diachkova in their restructured showdown. It culminated with a barrage of punches and knees in the second round that 'Karelian Lynx' had no answer to, forcing the referee to stop the match at the 2:59 mark of the round for the TKO win.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the 19-year-old Fairtex Training Center standout expressed her intention to go after the world title she vacated again, preferably against Vandaryeva, who she has not battled yet.

Sundell said:

"I think Ekaterina won her last fight, and I have not fought her yet. So maybe that can be something."

Watch the interview below:

Before being stripped of her world title, Smilla Sundell successfully defended it once against atomweight Muay Thai queen Allycia Hellen Rodrigues in their all-champion title clash last September.

Vandaryeva, for her part, scored a breakthrough victory after five matches in ONE back in March, defeating Martyna Kierczynska of Poland by unanimous decision.

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Smilla Sundell says she got a lot of support after losing belt

Smilla Sundell said being stripped of the ONE women's strawweight world title was one of the toughest episodes in her young career but that she was able to get by it with support from the people around her.

She told Sportskeeda MMA about it following her most recent fight, pointing out that support not only came from her family and team but also fellow ONE Championship fighters, including former atomweight MMA queen and now retired Angela Lee.

'The Hurricane' said:

"I didn't know how much I needed that. But it really helped. Having them supporting me helped me a lot. I have my family, but sometimes when other fighters tell me they feel the same, it makes me feel a lot better. It helps me. It helped me get going today."

Check out what she had to say below:

Despite vacating the belt, Smilla Sundell still kept her undefeated record in ONE Championship intact with a second-round TKO of Russia's Natalia Diachkova in their restructured Muay Thai clash early this month.