Natalia
Diachkova believes her upcoming opponent, Smilla
Sundell, has several holes in her game waiting to be
exploited.
Diachkova will challenge Sundell for the ONE
Championship women’s muay thai 125-pound title at
ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3. While Sundell’s achievements for a
19-year-old are certainly commendable, Diachkova, who won the
Russian National Adult Championship at just 16 years of age, isn’t
awed.
“Her age doesn’t really matter. I won the National Adult
Championship when I was 16 years old. But mentally, she is still a
child,” Diachkova said.
While Sundell has seemed almost flawless in her career thus far,
Diachkova notes that the 5’10” champ has enjoyed a significant
height advantage over her latest opponents. Diachkova sees her 5’7”
stature posing a problem for the relatively inexperienced Sundell,
who will be unable to use her height advantage to the fullest when
they cross paths.
“Yes, it will be a problem for her to fight me because her
opponents were almost 20 centimeters shorter. This is an important
factor in a fight if you don’t have enough experience and
understanding on how to work with opposition of different
heights.”
Additionally, Diachkova believes she has many advantages over
Sundell which she hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase yet,
including her “underrated” clinch game.
“There are many. I am underestimated in the clinch and, generally,
in everything that I have not yet had time to show. It will be a
fight in small gloves. I just do not see the point of messing
around and fighting in the Thai boxing style, where you can miss
one accurate punch and end up on the floor. My advantage is my hard
punches and working with a series of combinations, as well as my
experience in the ring.”
Asked about her road to victory against “The Hurricane,” Diachkova
yet again mentioned the ostensible clinch advantage.
“She just uses her hands to get what she wants. I didn’t see any
cool clinch work from her. I’ve seen everyone [being] afraid of
her, but I’m not afraid of her. I can win with strong punches, but
anything can happen in the ring. Maybe I’ll beat her by clinching
for five rounds, who knows?”
