“It helped me get going today” - Smilla Sundell says support from Angela Lee spurred her to success at ONE Fight Night 22

Former ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world champion Smilla Sundell had it rough in the lead-up to her most recent fight. But through the support of her family and fellow athletes, she was able to pull through and get another victory.

'The Hurricane' was stripped of her world title ahead of ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3 in Bangkok, Thailand. What was supposed to be a title defense for her against Russian challenger Natalia Diachkova was restructured as a catchweight (126.5 pounds) duel after she missed weight.

While sad and disappointed in the turn of events, 19-year-old Sundell was able to pull herself together with the support and encouragement of her family, team, and fellow athletes, including former ONE women's champion Angela Lee, who reached out to her.

The Swedish sensation shared this during a post-fight interview with Sportskeeda MMA, saying:

"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."

See the full interview below:

At ONE Fight Night 22, Smilla Sundell got off to a slow start that had her taking damage from the 'Karelian Lynx' early on.

But showing dogged determination, she rallied back in the second round, landing a solid left to the body of Diachkova late in the frame. From there, she unleashed a flurry of punches and knees that severely hurt her opponent, forcing the referee to stop the match at the 2:59 mark.

Despite the impressive TKO win though, Sundell was not awarded the belt back for missing weight.

The replay of the full card of ONE Fight Night 22 is available for North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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Smilla Sundell heaps praises to Natalia Diachkova

Smilla Sundell convincingly defeated Natalia Diachkova at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3 but admitted that victory did not come easy. She was left impressed with her opponent.

The 19-year-old Fairtex Training Center standout stopped the 'Karelian Lynx' late in the second round of their catchweight Muay Thai showdown. Before she achieved it, however, she had to survive a grueling opening round that had her hurt and scrambling from the telling hits she received from Diachkova.

Given how the fight turned out, Smilla Sundell could not help but heap praise on her Russian opponent, highlighting how deserving she is of fighting under the bright lights of ONE Championship.

She said:

"Yeah, I think she showed that she's made for this stage, too."

The loss was the first for Diachkova in five fights to date in ONE Championship.