“He’s going to be hard to beat” - Liam Harrison believes Nabil Anane will rule the bantamweight Muay Thai ranks for a long tme

Veteran British striker Liam Harrison believes ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nabil Anane is going to be a force to reckon with in the division for some time.

"Hitman' shared this in an interview with combat sports journalist Nick Atkin after witnessing the Algerian-Thai phenom dominate Thai superstar Superlek Kiatmoo9 in their showdown at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Harrison highlighted how a lot is going for Nabil Anane and it is going to be hard not to be high on what he is capable of doing moving forward. He said:

"He’s young, he’s got all the support of all the Thais and everything behind him. He’s going to be hard to beat because everyone loves him as well. So, he’s going to always be there, 100% fit, he has a great coach in Mehdi Zatout and yeah, it’s going to be tough to beat him."

Watch the interview below:

Nabil Anane capitalized on his reach and height advantage over Superlek in laying down a dominant performance, that even saw 'The Kicking Machine' hit the mat in the opening round. He completed the impressive showing by winning it all by unanimous decision.

The contest was originally set as a unification bout until erstwhile divisional king Superlek was stripped of the world title for missing weight and hydration at the official weigh-in. It was played as a three-round, non-title match instead.

By beating Superlek at ONE 172, Anane leveled his head-to-head matchup with the Kiatmoo9 Gym standout at a win apiece.

The replay of ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available at watch.onefc.com.

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Denis Puric also impressed with Nabil Anane

Another seasoned fighter impressed with Nabil Anane is Bosnian-Canadian striker Denis Puric, who noted how the young superstar significantly grown as a fighter in short time.

'The Bosnian Menace' spoke about in the lead-up to ONE 172, and after seeing the Team Mehdi Zatout standout steamroll his way against erstwhile invincible Nico Carrillo by KO in the first round back in January to become the interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion.

Puric told Sportskeeda MMA in an interview:

"Nabil's looking f***ing amazing. He just took out Nico Carillo in a couple of minutes. You can't deny that kid. And he's so dangerous because he's so big, so long, you know. He's got long limbs, long reach. So, let’s see."

The win at ONE 172 was the seventh straight for Nabil Anane, who opened his ONE campaign in June 2023 with a KO loss at the hands of Superlek Kiatmoo9, the same fighter he defeated at ONE 172.