Two-sport queen Stella “Always Hungry” Hemetsberger made a statement in her first ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title defense, stopping Natalia “Karelian Lynx” Diachkova via knockout in the third round of the main event at ONE Fight Night 46, which aired live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, August 14.
Both women played it cautious to open the contest, feeling each other out until Diachkova exploded into a boxing combination that got the defending World Champion’s attention. Hemetsberger answered with kicks, but the Russian superstar caught one of them and dumped her to the canvas to close the frame.
Hemetsberger came out of her shell in round two, firing right hands at the challenger, who was looking to overthrow her.
Diachkova answered right back with punches of her own, though the 27-year-old Austrian neutralized the exchanges by clinching up whenever “Karelian Lynx” threatened to find her range.
All caution went out the window in the third stanza. A more confident and accurate Hemetsberger came out swinging, driving a left kick into Diachkova’s liver, which clearly hurt her.
Diachkova hunched over in pain, and then the two-sport queen delivered the same kick to the same spot moments later.
As the 31-year-old Russian turned away toward the ropes, Hemetsberger closed the show with a three-punch combination and a knee that forced the referee to step in and wave off the contest at the 1:46 mark.
The dominant finish saw Hemetsberger, who also holds the ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing World Title, further cement her status as one of the top pound-for-pound female strikers on the planet. She also moved her professional record to 11-1 and earned a US$50,000 bonus for her extraordinary performance.