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Former ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion Smilla Sundell feels for Stamp Fairtex after the Thai was ruled out of her hotly anticipated ONE atomweight MMA world title defense against Denice Zamboanga at ONE 167.
The three-sport queen was deep in her preparation to take on the No.2-ranked divisional contender in the main event of the June 7 bill. Unfortunately, the Pattaya-based fighter tore the meniscus in her left knee last week which effectively led to her withdrawal.
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Touching on the incident, the Swede athlete who's formed a close bond with the Thai megastar at Fairtex Training Center told Sportskeeda MMA:
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"Yeah, she's very upset. I think we all [at Fairtex Training Center] are feeling for her. She's worked very hard for it, she works hard every day, and this happening, her not being able to fight now, yeah, it's very sad for her."
Watch Smilla Sundell's full interview here:
Despite the injury, the Muay Thai specialist knows her colleague will be back better than ever.
Stamp went under the knife this past Monday, May 20, to repair her torn meniscus. As of now, the three-sport queen is undergoing physical therapy to avoid any further drawbacks.
Following her withdrawal, Tawanchai's rematch against Jo Nattawut will headline ONE 167. Meanwhile, Zamboanga will continue to feature on the bill as she faces Noelle Grandjean.
The entire card will be available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription live in U.S. primetime on June 7.
Smilla Sundell wants to recapture her crown and vacate it on her own accord
On her end, Smilla Sundell is eager to get a shot at redemption after losing her ONE strawweight Muay Thai world championship gold on the scales in the lead-up to ONE Fight Night 22.
During the same session, the teenage phenom shared an ideal scenario to how she would prefer to end her stint as the divisional queen:
"Yeah, I think that's actually next [a match for my strawweight Muay Thai world title]. I would like to get my belt back, and I think I'd do one more fight in this weight division, and I want to leave the belt on my own [accord]. Like, not on the scales, I don't like it."
