Nico Carrillo marched through ONE Championship’s bantamweight Muay Thai division over the last 20 months to earn a shot at the gold at ONE 170 on Friday, Jan 24.
The Scottish brawler was originally scheduled to meet ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 at the thrilling show inside Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, but he was reassigned after the divisional king was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Instead, #2-ranked bantamweight Carrillo will take on #5-ranked Nabil Anane for interim gold. Though not what he was hoping for, “King of the North” is still excited, and he’s looking to make another statement.
“[Anane is] definitely a worthy challenger. He’s on a crazy trajectory right now, beating everyone put in front of him in ONE Championship, but I’m going to knock him out,” Carrillo remarked to ONE.
Carrillo isn’t taking the change of opponent lightly, as he knows Anane is on a hot streak.
The towering Thai striker has five straight wins under his belt in ONE, and he is fueled by the confidence he can upset his hotly tipped foe in front of a home crowd.
As such, Carrillo remains respectful of Anane. But he still plans to finish him spectacularly.
“He’s good, but I don’t think he’d be as good as he is if he didn’t have his height advantage. Nonetheless, he is good. I don’t really have a bad thing to say about him. I like him. He’s young. He hasn’t been given anything. He’s a humble, hardworking guy, so there’s nothing but respect from my side,” he said.
“King of the North’s” climb up the ranks in ONE has been filled with wins over a who’s who of stirking talent, including longtime bantamweight Muay Thai king Nong-O Hama.
All of his opponents have faced the same fate. He has had four fights and has scored a finish in each, helping him kick off what he hopes is a historic legacy.
“It’s inevitable that I’ll become king. This is just another chapter to tell in my story. In order for me to become the undisputed champion, I had to take the hardest road to get there. I had to fight the number one, then defend my number one spot, was meant to fight for the title,” the bantamweight star stated.
Ahead of his biggest fight to date this weekend, Carrillo isn’t predicting a five-round technical battle.
He promises a dramatic battle that will electrify the Impact Arena audience.
“My prediction is violence,” Carrillo confidently said.
Superlek’s injury hit the Scotsman hard. He was excited to get a shot at the undisputed title and square off against the pound-for-pound king.
The 26-year-old had to quickly shift gears and looked at his new opportunity with rose-colored glasses to see the positives. But he knows what he has to do. And if he secures a win against Anane, Superlek will be waiting at ONE 172 in March.
“It was difficult when I first got the call [about Superlek], as I was a little bit down about it. But then you start looking for positives. Then I was matched with Nabil Anane. In life, you really need to always have a positive outlook. So I maintain mine. Whether the sun is shining, whether I’m happy, sad, or hungry, it doesn’t matter,” the Scot commented.
Anane poses interesting challenges due to his height and length, but Carrillo believes he can combat those physical advantages to secure interim gold and continue his unbeaten streak on the global stage.
“It’s a slightly different approach given how tall he is and his body type is very hard to replicate. But we’ve tried to get guys that match him as close as possible in order to prepare the best we can. Nonetheless, it will be the same outcome. A different fight, but the same result with me winning,” the dominant striker said.
ONE 170 airs live and free on Friday, Jan. 24, at 6:30 a.m. EST/3:30 a.m. PST from Bangkok, Thailand, on ONE’s Official YouTube Channel.