“King of the North” Nico Carrillo has set his sights on taking the Muay Thai world title from Jonathan Haggerty. The Scottish striker earned an impressive TKO win against Saemapetch this past weekend, his fourth straight win in ONE Championship. Thus extending his win streak to 15 consecutive wins. To add to his jubilation, he received a $50,000 performance bonus for his impressive performance.
The 25-year-old has been very vocal about wanting to challenge Jonathan Haggerty for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title. But first, “The General” Haggerty, of England, will look to defend his title against Superlek Kiatmoo9 on Sep. 6 in Denver. Thai-born Superlek is a top-ranked pound-for-pound striker in both kickboxing and Muay Thai, having notable wins over Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Takeru Segawa.
Carrillo’s recent performances have made it hard for ONE Championship to delay giving him a title shot any longer. He is now waiting to see who wins the Haggerty vs. Superlek, at ONE 168, fight to know who he will face next. The Glasgow, Scotland-born Carrillo prefers to fight Haggerty out of the two, perhaps looking to win the battle of UK Muay Thai by defeating England’s finest.
Speaking in a post-fight interview, Carrillo explained:
“I would prefer to fight Haggerty, not because he’s better or anything. I would like to be the one to take the belt from him.“
He added:
“Please give me the shot at gold. Just yeah, words escape how happy I am. Thank you so much, and please, give me the title shot next. Don’t make me hold my position anymore.“
Carrillo feels that the world champion is running from him, he said:
“I feel like Haggery’s avoiding me. I know I’ll beat John.”
Since making his debut in ONE Championship, the Scottish Muay Thai athlete has won all his bouts by way of KO/TKO. This includes notable wins over fighters such as Nong-O Hama, the former champion, stadium champion Muangthai P.K. Saenchaimuaythaigym, and former title contender Saemapetch Fairtex this past weekend.