ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova Preview and Predictions

On Friday, May 3, ONE Championship returns to the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, for ONE Fight Night 22. The underrated event may not feature many promotional superstars or title fights, but fans should expect an action-packed night of fights featuring the following – Muay Thai (4), MMA (4), kickboxing (2), and submission grappling (1).

In the main event, 19-year-old phenom Smilla Sundell will put her undefeated promotional record and women’s strawweight Muay Thai world title on the line. Sundell has looked nearly unbeatable since joining ONE, but she can’t overlook her next opponent, Natalia Diachkova, who holds a 4-0 record, including three wins by first-round knockout.

As for the co-main event, ONE Championship will showcase their upcoming talent as undefeated featherweight MMA fighters Akbar Abdullaev (10-0) and Halil Amir (10-0) look to put the division on notice. Don’t blink because fighters have a combined promotional record of 5-0, with four fights ending inside the distance.

ONE Fight Night 22 will also feature Sinsamut Klinmee vs Dmitry Menshikov (lightweight Muay Thai), Maurice Abevi vs Zhang Lipeng (lightweight MMA), Rungrawee vs Bogdan Shumarov (lightweight kickboxing), Thongpoon vs Zakaria El Jamri (strawweight Muay Thai), and more.

The event airs live on Amazon Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. ET. Let’s take a look at the preview and predictions for ONE Fight Night 22.

The flyweight Muay Thai title will be on the line in the main event; can Smilla Sundell get past Russian standout Natalya Dyachkova?

Let’s be honest, there isn’t an overabundance of strawweight Muay Thai contenders for Smilla Sundell to face in the promotion. With that said, the teenage sensation has taken out everyone put into her path and become one of the leading female superstars in ONE Championship.

This might sound crazy because Sundell fought Allycia Hellen Rodrigues last time out, but Natalia Diachkova could be the toughest opponent thus far for the 19-year-old. Diachkova made her ONE debut on the Friday Fights Series in Apr. 2023. The Russian quickly earned a spot on the primary roster with four consecutive wins, including three ending in round one.

Sundell’s reach advantage and relentless pressure haven’t been solved by any of her ONE Championship opponents yet. When it comes to Diachkova, she must avoid the elbows of Sundell while closing the distance to land her vicious combinations.

Once the dust settles, Sundell should be able to control the distance and retain her throne by unanimous decision.

Two undefeated stalwarts meet in the co-main event; will it be Akbar Abdullaev or Halil Amir who leaves with his perfect record still intact?

The ONE Championship featherweight MMA division is heating up, as Garry Tonon will likely have an opportunity to dethrone Tang Kai later this year. In the meantime, two undefeated fighters in the division, Akbar Abdullaev and Halil Amir, look to crack the rankings with a win at ONE Fight Night 22.
Abdullaev has fought twice under the ONE banner, winning both by knockout in less than 45 seconds. The Kyrgyzstan fighter now looks to make the most of a step up in competition when he faces Amir, who holds three promotional wins against tougher competition in the likes of Ahmed Mujtaba, Maurice Abevi and Timofey Nastyukhin.

One of the most important factors of this matchup is Amir moving down from lightweight to featherweight. Will he have a weight advantage? Will his cardio struggle with the added cut?

Meanwhile, Abdullaev is building an impressive highlight reel through two fights. Yet, what happens if the fight goes longer than one round? What happens if Amir is still standing after eating Abdullaev’s best punch?

Many questions need to be answered in this fight. Although we don’t have the answers yet, I’m leaning on the level of competition and cage time acquired in the promotion and pick Amir to win by knockout or submission in round three.

Sinsamut Klinmee and Dmitry Menshikov are riding two-fight winning streaks heading into ONE Fight Night 22. Who will secure another win and potentially face Regian Eersel in a rematch ?

Dmitry Menshikov was somewhat written off when he suffered a 46-second knockout loss in his ONE debut against lightweight Muay Thai champion Regian Eersel. Since then, the Russian has bounced back with first-round knockout wins against Rungrawee and Mouhcine Chafi, putting him into a potential number-one contender fight.

Sinsamut Klinmee holds two losses against Eersel, making it difficult to earn a third opportunity. Nonetheless, the Thai contender also holds a two-fight winning streak -over Victor Teixeira and Chafi – and can’t be denied a title shot if he continues getting his hand raised.

Menshikov vs Sinsamut should be a car crash of a matchup, as both fighters are fully capable of securing another knockout win. In my opinion, this fight could go either way, but I’m taking Menshikov to get the win and fight Eersel in a rematch later this year.

Which fight is the sleeper match-up on this card?

The sleeper matchup of ONE Fight Night 22 is between bantamweight kickboxers Hiroki Akimoto and Wei Rui.
Akimoto, a former ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion, hasn’t fought since losing against Petchtanong in Nov. 2022. Luckily for the fans, the Japanese savage returns to potentially secure a title shot against Jonathan Haggerty.

It won’t be easy for Akimoto. He’s been matched up against promotional newcomer Wei, who solidified his legacy by finding success in K-1. The Chinese contender plans to quickly put ONE Championship fans on notice by defeating Akimoto.

Akimoto and Wei are high-level kickboxers looking to capitalize on an opportunity to face Haggerty. Fans can expect a war between two experience fighters showcasing elite fundamentals and bad intentions.