“Everything went according to plan” - Nabil Anane says beatdown of Superlek is just the start of his reign of terror at bantamweight

For Nabil Anane, ONE 172 was a shot at closure - at proving that he had grown from the young boy who was tossed to the wolves in his promotional debut against Superlek in 2023.

This time, it was different.

Now the interim ONE bantamweight Muay Thai champion, Anane came in sharp and focused, prepared to maximize every weapon in his arsenal, including his incredible reach.

The night ended in a victory for Anane, closing the chapter on the Thai-Algerian's only loss under the ONE Championship banner.

"Everything went according to plan," Anane said during the post-event press conference,"and thanks to Mehdi Zatout and his team, who have come up with a plan with him and trained me very hard for this fight. I want to let everyone know that when I'm in camp, my usual weight is around 70 to 71 kilograms, and I feel like I don't want to move up anytime soon."

Nabil Anane entered the promotion with his reach as his main advantage. Now, with his reach and the skills to boot, this is only the beginning of what could be a very long reign in the bantamweight division.

Watch the coverage below:

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“I feel bad it wasn't a match with a title” - Nabil Anane admits revenge win over Superlek could have been much sweeter

Everything went according to plan... everything, that is, except the belt. With Superlek missing weight and being stripped of his title, his bout with Nabil Anane was downgraded to a regular bantamweight contest.

Sweet as the victory might have been, Anane can't help but feel a sense of what could have been.

"And the title, I feel bad that it wasn't a match with a title," he said. "But what can I do, I don't know, I had [made] a lot of sacrifices also for this fight, because Superlek was, to beat him, to fight him and win was one of my goals. But I thought that I would have the title also. I would have the belt here or here, but it's okay next time."