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Coming from the Swedish town of Sundbyberg, in the Stockholm area, Smilla Sundell started practicing karate at age 5 for self-defense. She and her family moved to Ko Samui, Thailand when she
was 12 years old due to her parents' careers. That's when she began practicing Muay Thai together with her younger sister, as there weren't any other sports to train there on the island.
“The Hurricane” stuck with her new hobby, and though her talent was evident, she didn’t have any intention to compete. In fact, Sundell’s parents signed her up for a debut match with very little
warning – and the 12-year-old Swede was not satisfied.
“I liked learning and training, but I was never planning on actually fighting,” she said.
“My parents kind of encouraged me and forced me to do it. I got last-minute notice. They told me like the day before that I was fighting. So I was not very happy, but I’m very thankful now for them
helping me and pushing me to do it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
"It took like three fights to figure out that I was good at this, and actually wanting to continue. I think I was just scared. As I don’t like to fail. I don’t like to lose."
Fast-forward three years and the family moves back to Sweden again due to the parents' jobs while Smilla takes the decision to stay, all alone in Thailand at age 15. Because now she has come to
realize her talent and what could be if she would keep on training in Thailand.
“All of my friends do Muay Thai,” said Sundell. “Honestly, it’s like all my friends are part of the gym. And I stay here alone. Yeah, I clean and do laundry, cook as well. I pay my bills and stuff.”
“I never really did this for money in the beginning,” Sundell said. “But now I can see it as a career.”
But running out of opponents in Ko Samui and inspired by watching Stamp Fairtex, she quickly understood the need to move and then decided to leave for Pattaya and Stamp Fairtex's gym.
“To keep developing my dad and I booked a holiday to Pattaya, it was all to check out Fairtex and to watch them. So I did a morning training there, a private one. And they told me I had to come back
in the afternoon. So later that day, my boss saw me and he asked me to join. So it was a very short trial.”
Eventually, with a tougher competition though she had her first loss. “The Hurricane” detests losing so much that she says that this first setback actually became the true catalyst for her unrelenting
commitment to Muay Thai.
“After my first defeat, I felt very angry. I couldn't eat anything because I was so angry. But I got over it after a day or two and had a meal. Then I wanted to be better. I wanted to train harder. I wanted
to beat everyone. I truly wanted to win every fight after that.”
While winning the vast majority of her fights and many by finish, she still surprised the audience by beating highly touted Ponpan Por.Muengpetch and Sawsing Sor Sopit, who both had worked their
way up to top-fighter status in Thailand. Both fights happened a month apart and before Smilla had her 16th birthday. So at age 16, in early 2021, she was ranked the number one female
featherweight MT fighter in the world by the WBC Muaythai.
ONE FC had not missed what she did or the rising hype and were the fastest to offer a lucrative contract for the 16-year-old.
"Yeah, that's correct. Of course due to my hard work and the wins. I know they watched my fight with Ponpan, but after Sawsing they reached out."
Early 2022 she then makes her promotional debut for ONE and later said the main difference for her was the fact that ONE Muay Thai fights take place in their patented circle-shaped cage and
using four-ounce MMA gloves. This was a new experience for Sundell and one she enjoyed.
“It was my very first fight in small gloves now. I never fought with small gloves before. It was fun, and I felt it was easier to hit.”
For her ONE debut Sundell took on Australia’s Diandra Martin. She won by a round 3 KO and made a big statement to the world.
“I think it was a good first fight in ONE. She was very strong, and I learned that I will have to block differently, like with my hands – to not take so many shots,” she commented post-fight.
ONE FC on the other hand couldn't care about her defense needing to adapt to the cage and smaller gloves - they were so impressed with what she had shown them that they booked her for an
instant title shot. There she took on the American Jackie Buntan and won a 5 round decision. Just two months after the debut had went down. And by that she made history as the youngest person
to win a world title in the history of ONE Championship.
Sundell had signed a contract of six fights that were supposed to go down within 2.5 years, but when her last fight got demoted from a title fight due to her weighing in at 126.5 lb, where there's no
room for anything above the limit of 125 in championship bouts, the promotion decided to release Smilla from her contract. Seeing no reason to force her to try and make weight for a final fight while
not having a Muay Thai 135lbs division.
Sundell saw it all as a chance to take on her next chapter. Intrigued and fascinated by MMA, she decided it was finally time to leave Thailand and look for a place with wrestling and high level of BJJ.
Already having the striking, she wanted to try her new passion and learn those other aspects of the fighting game. She moved all the way to Vancouver, Canada to there join Diaz Combat Sports in
Chinatown.
“The Hurricane” retired in Muay Thai at age 19 after a total of 42 professional fights. She won 36 (23 by KO/TKO), lost 5 and had 1 draw.
Instead, she has used her first year in Canada to train up the ground game, from nonexistent to competing in three BJJ tournaments. After ending up winning the gold medal in all of them, she has
now signed to the American MMA promotion Tuff N' Uff where she's set to make her pro debut in December. Just like she did in Muay Thai, she will jump into the pro scene without taking any
amateur bouts first to try.
"I will make history again," she said. "I have worked very hard on my BJJ and I am starting to feel like a complete fighter. You guys will see this in December."
"The goal I have set for myself is to beat Jon Jones' record and become the youngest UFC champion in history".
was 12 years old due to her parents' careers. That's when she began practicing Muay Thai together with her younger sister, as there weren't any other sports to train there on the island.
“The Hurricane” stuck with her new hobby, and though her talent was evident, she didn’t have any intention to compete. In fact, Sundell’s parents signed her up for a debut match with very little
warning – and the 12-year-old Swede was not satisfied.
“I liked learning and training, but I was never planning on actually fighting,” she said.
“My parents kind of encouraged me and forced me to do it. I got last-minute notice. They told me like the day before that I was fighting. So I was not very happy, but I’m very thankful now for them
helping me and pushing me to do it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
"It took like three fights to figure out that I was good at this, and actually wanting to continue. I think I was just scared. As I don’t like to fail. I don’t like to lose."
Fast-forward three years and the family moves back to Sweden again due to the parents' jobs while Smilla takes the decision to stay, all alone in Thailand at age 15. Because now she has come to
realize her talent and what could be if she would keep on training in Thailand.
“All of my friends do Muay Thai,” said Sundell. “Honestly, it’s like all my friends are part of the gym. And I stay here alone. Yeah, I clean and do laundry, cook as well. I pay my bills and stuff.”
“I never really did this for money in the beginning,” Sundell said. “But now I can see it as a career.”
But running out of opponents in Ko Samui and inspired by watching Stamp Fairtex, she quickly understood the need to move and then decided to leave for Pattaya and Stamp Fairtex's gym.
“To keep developing my dad and I booked a holiday to Pattaya, it was all to check out Fairtex and to watch them. So I did a morning training there, a private one. And they told me I had to come back
in the afternoon. So later that day, my boss saw me and he asked me to join. So it was a very short trial.”
Eventually, with a tougher competition though she had her first loss. “The Hurricane” detests losing so much that she says that this first setback actually became the true catalyst for her unrelenting
commitment to Muay Thai.
“After my first defeat, I felt very angry. I couldn't eat anything because I was so angry. But I got over it after a day or two and had a meal. Then I wanted to be better. I wanted to train harder. I wanted
to beat everyone. I truly wanted to win every fight after that.”
While winning the vast majority of her fights and many by finish, she still surprised the audience by beating highly touted Ponpan Por.Muengpetch and Sawsing Sor Sopit, who both had worked their
way up to top-fighter status in Thailand. Both fights happened a month apart and before Smilla had her 16th birthday. So at age 16, in early 2021, she was ranked the number one female
featherweight MT fighter in the world by the WBC Muaythai.
ONE FC had not missed what she did or the rising hype and were the fastest to offer a lucrative contract for the 16-year-old.
"Yeah, that's correct. Of course due to my hard work and the wins. I know they watched my fight with Ponpan, but after Sawsing they reached out."
Early 2022 she then makes her promotional debut for ONE and later said the main difference for her was the fact that ONE Muay Thai fights take place in their patented circle-shaped cage and
using four-ounce MMA gloves. This was a new experience for Sundell and one she enjoyed.
“It was my very first fight in small gloves now. I never fought with small gloves before. It was fun, and I felt it was easier to hit.”
For her ONE debut Sundell took on Australia’s Diandra Martin. She won by a round 3 KO and made a big statement to the world.
“I think it was a good first fight in ONE. She was very strong, and I learned that I will have to block differently, like with my hands – to not take so many shots,” she commented post-fight.
ONE FC on the other hand couldn't care about her defense needing to adapt to the cage and smaller gloves - they were so impressed with what she had shown them that they booked her for an
instant title shot. There she took on the American Jackie Buntan and won a 5 round decision. Just two months after the debut had went down. And by that she made history as the youngest person
to win a world title in the history of ONE Championship.
Sundell had signed a contract of six fights that were supposed to go down within 2.5 years, but when her last fight got demoted from a title fight due to her weighing in at 126.5 lb, where there's no
room for anything above the limit of 125 in championship bouts, the promotion decided to release Smilla from her contract. Seeing no reason to force her to try and make weight for a final fight while
not having a Muay Thai 135lbs division.
Sundell saw it all as a chance to take on her next chapter. Intrigued and fascinated by MMA, she decided it was finally time to leave Thailand and look for a place with wrestling and high level of BJJ.
Already having the striking, she wanted to try her new passion and learn those other aspects of the fighting game. She moved all the way to Vancouver, Canada to there join Diaz Combat Sports in
Chinatown.
“The Hurricane” retired in Muay Thai at age 19 after a total of 42 professional fights. She won 36 (23 by KO/TKO), lost 5 and had 1 draw.
Instead, she has used her first year in Canada to train up the ground game, from nonexistent to competing in three BJJ tournaments. After ending up winning the gold medal in all of them, she has
now signed to the American MMA promotion Tuff N' Uff where she's set to make her pro debut in December. Just like she did in Muay Thai, she will jump into the pro scene without taking any
amateur bouts first to try.
"I will make history again," she said. "I have worked very hard on my BJJ and I am starting to feel like a complete fighter. You guys will see this in December."
"The goal I have set for myself is to beat Jon Jones' record and become the youngest UFC champion in history".
