The women’s muay thai belt at 125 pounds may not be in anyone’s
possession now, but the division’s only champion is on a mission to
get it back very soon.

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One Championship and beltholder Smilla
Sundell (36-5, 5-0 ONE) had visions of the 19-year-old from
Sweden claiming titles across multiple disciplines, but much
changed the day before the event. Sundell missed her weight class
by 1.5 pounds and was forced to surrender her throne, and only
challenger Natalia
Diachkova (30-5, 4-1 ONE) could claim it. While
ONE on Prime Video 22 concluded with a vacant 125-pound belt in
One’s women’s muay thai division, it all-but promised an immediate
rematch as Sundell pulled victory from the jaws of defeat as she
dispatched Diachkova right before the second round ended.

Diachkova proved early on that her power would play a factor during
the match. The underdog chained clean combinations together,
landing flush on the face of the heavier woman repeatedly. As
Diachkova continued to tag Sundall, damage began to mount almost
immediately. Reddening quickly turned to swelling, and the Russian
bullied the younger lady around the ring. Sundell’s left eye grew
in size while a small mouse ballooned on her forehead. This
momentum continued for the woman known as “Karelian Lynx” as she
appeared to be on the path to an upset.

The Team Mehdi Zatout fighter beat Sundell to the punch as the
second round progressed, with little sign of her slowing. Out of
nowhere, as if a switch had been flipped in the former champion,
Sundell unleashed a hellacious left hook to the liver that
completely changed the complexion of the evening. Diachkova swung
back valiantly, but the delayed reaction of the sudden disabling
blow caught up with her as her body contorted in pain. Sundell knew
that she had the challenger figuratively and literally on the
ropes, and she released a seemingly unending combination of fists
to the torso and side of the head until knees were in play. As “The
Hurricane” swelled and clobbered Diachkova with knees, the Russian
turned and put her body through the ropes to signal physical
surrender. Referee Olivier Coste waved the match off at 2:59 of the
second frame, punctuating a shocking comeback for the ex-champ.

Commentator Mitch
Chilson remarked during Sundell’s post-fight interview that she
would have likely received a $50,000 bonus check in addition to the
giant belt getting wrapped around her waist, but the weight miss
disqualified her from both. Sundell apologized for her mistake and
promised that her next fight—almost certainly a rematch with
Diachkova with gold on the line—would go differently.



In the final MMA bout of the evening, the co-main event featured a
pair of unbeaten prospects throwing down with bright prospects at
155 pounds looming for the victor. With 19 stoppages in their
combined 20 matches leading into this high-stakes affair, violence
was practically guaranteed, and it did not disappoint. While
Akbar
Abdullaev (11-0, 3-0 ONE) and Halil Amir
(10-1, 3-1 ONE) engaged in a grappling match for the lion’s share
of the first round, Abdullaev controlled his opponent and slowed
Amir down just a whisker. However, when the second round rolled
around, the two opted not to grapple early on.


With the threat of his wrestling in his back pocket, Abdullaev
chased his opponent around the ring as Amir struggled to find his
rhythm. When getting stung, Amir pursued a takedown and got away
with a few rope grabs before Abdullaev surged to his feet.
Abdullaev turned the tables to drag Amir down, keeping his foe on
his seat even as Amir got away with grabbing the ropes again. When
upright, the Amir attempted to escape, but a determined “Bakal”
reached him with a ferocious left hook to put Amir on his seat. To
hammer the nail with a
destructive right hand reminiscent of Dan
Henderson against Michael
Bisping, Abdullaev laid waste to his adversary and kept his
stellar finish rate at 100%. Referee Herb Dean
leaped between them to save Amir from further damage at the 2:52
mark of the second round.

The victorious Abdullaev claimed a $50,000 bonus check for his
handiwork as he called out champion Kai Tang,
making it three post-fight bonuses for his three knockouts under
the One banner.



Dmitry
Menshikov (30-2, 3-1 ONE) shocked Sinsamut
Klinmee (82-18, 4-3 ONE) to notch a dramatic come-from-behind
finish with a
vicious barrage of punches, elbows and knees. While
Menshikov likely was behind on the scorecards, he turned it up in
the third round to melt Sinsamut and force referee Olivier Coste to
wave the fight off at 1:33. Meanwhile in MMA, Maurice
Abevi (8-1, 2-1 ONE) came to blows with Chinese veteran
Lipeng
Zhang (34-13-2, 3-2 ONE) in a 174-pound catchweight battle,
stifling anything of merit that the more experienced fighter threw
at him. All three judges turned in scorecards in favor of the Swiss
competitor, who earned his first career victory by decision.

In preliminary action, surging Chinese debutant Rui Wei (70-3,
1-0 ONE) kept his lengthy win streak intact by outdueling former
champ Hiroki
Akimoto (26-3, 6-3 ONE) to claim the unanimous verdict in a
back-and-forth 145-pound kickboxing clash; Reece
McLaren (16-9, 9-6 ONE) won his engagement at 135 pounds by
surviving a bombardment and outworking China’s Yong Hu (12-4,
8-1 ONE) by split decision; “Legatron” Rungrawee
Sitsongpeenong (157-47, 5-1 ONE) threw down with Bulgarian
brawler Bogdan
Shumarov (17-3, 2-1 ONE), prevailing in the all-action
170-pound kickboxing bout via split decision; Chihiro
Sawada (8-0-1, 3-0 ONE) ground out Noelle
Grandjean (5-2, 2-2 ONE) en route to a methodical unanimous
decision in their 115-pound MMA contest; Zakaria
El Jamari (5-2, 1-1 ONE) pulled off the upset in a mighty
slugfest with Thongpoon
PK Saenchai (79-24, 1 NC; 4-1, 1 NC ONE), earning the nod from
all three judges in their 125-pound muay thai banger; Bianca
Basilio put Nanami
Ichikawa to
sleep with a rear-naked choke just 35 seconds into
their 132-pound submission grappling affair; the event commenced
with a 135-pound muay thai collision as Sean
Climaco (11-2, 1-0 ONE) folded Josue Cruz
(17-3, 0-2 ONE) with a
brutal left hand to the midsection at 2:06 of the
first round.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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