For a fighter to become the best, it helps to remain humble and focused. And if the opportunity to train with world-class athletes arises, they should grab it with both hands. Ahead of her return to ONE Championship next month, ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Smilla Sundell has been doing all that. 

The Swedish striker is set to return in the main event of ONE Fight Night 22 on Saturday, 4th May, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, where she’ll defend her crown against Russian ruiner Natalia Diachkova.

Sundell has been dominant across four promotional outings. But she knows she’ll have her hands full with Diachkova, so she recently chose to take some tips from ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Tawanchai PK Saenchai. 

“I did his seminar in Bangkok at PK Saenchai with my friend Matt. We went there and wanted to learn some new skills and see how he did seminars because I want to go to America after my fight to do seminars. I’ve done one now, and I like teaching, so it was fun,” Sundell said. 

“There’s no competition in it. He’s like a cat playing with a rat. It’s too easy for him sometimes. He doesn’t even try.”

The strawweight Muay Thai queen sharpens her skills at the Fairtex Training Center in Pattaya, Thailand, alongside other world-class striking talents, like three-sport ONE World Champion Stamp Fairtex. 

Stamp’s fun-loving nature has rubbed off on Sundell, but it’s her commitment to never backing down that has truly inspired the 19-year-old sensation.

“She’s always been a happy girl and trains hard every day. She’s basically the same funny girl. Still hungry (to get wins),” Sundell explained. 

“I think I learned that you can achieve whatever you like as long as you put in the work. But I learned that from my parents, too. But maybe more practical, in a sense, because Stamp did it in martial arts.”

Since parting with the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Championship last year, newly crowned interim titleholder Superbon hasn’t relented in his quest to regain the undisputed crown. 

The Thai phenom took a step closer to fulfilling that goal when he defeated staunch rival Marat Grigorian in their trilogy bout at ONE Friday Fights 58 last Friday, 5th April.

Superbon outstruck Grigorian over five rounds to claim the interim crown, and he was satisfied with his handiwork.

“I think he did a little bit better from ONE X. This time, he changed the game because he pressured me. I needed to change the game, too, because I didn’t think he could pressure me,” he said.

“I feel like I won every round. I’m really happy with my victory. Even though I wasn’t doing so good early, I still did good enough to beat him.”

Superbon had a mixed bag of results in 2023. The year started out with disappointment when he lost the featherweight kickboxing strap to Chingiz Allazov at ONE Fight Night 6 in January. 

The knockout defeat haunted the Thai star, but his response was strong, as he returned to knock out Tayfun Ozcan six months later. 

Superbon then swapped to Muay Thai, where another setback emerged. 

He challenged Tawanchai PK Saenchai for the ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title at December’s ONE Friday Fights 46 and came up short via unanimous decision.

2024 looks to be trending up for the 33-year-old, however. And now that he has the ONE Interim Featherweight Kickboxing World Title in his grasp, he knows exactly where he wants to go next.

“I want a rematch [with Allazov]. I want to be number one in kickboxing,” Superbon asserted. 

“That’s another goal – my goal still. I want to be a Kickboxing World Champion, and I want to be a Muay Thai World Champion, too. That’s my goal.”

Cage Warriors flyweight contender Ger Harris joins Jake Davis to discuss his upcoming bout with Gregory Wamytan at Cage Warriors 170 in Dublin.

The full interview is linked below, available on our YouTube channel.

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