“I got a chance to get my revenge” - Nabil Anane grateful to run it back with tormentor Superlek at ONE 172

ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nabil Anane is grateful for the opportunity to have a rematch with tormentor Superlek Kiatmoo9, more so in a world title fight setting this time around.

The 20-year-old Algerian-Thai phenom will try to unify the bantamweight Muay Thai belts when he goes up against reigning divisional king Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

It also a rematch of their first encounter in June 2023, where 'The Kicking Machine' gave the Team Mehdi Zatout representative a rude welcome in ONE Championship, knocking out the latter in the opening round of their flyweight Muay Thai joust.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post ahead of his scheduled do-over against Superlek, Nabil Anane spoke about the grand opportunity given to him and the mindset he has heading into the match.

He said:

"Thank you to him (Superlek), because it’s because of him that I changed a lot. I was very happy that I went through all of this, and now I got a chance to get my revenge and all."

Watch the interview below:

Since losing in his ONE debut to Superlek, Nabil Anane has impressively turned things around, winning his next six matches.

Superlek-Anane II is one of five world title fights on offer at ONE 172, which marks the return of ONE Championship to Japan for the second straight year.

ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available live on pay-per-view via watch.onefc.com.

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Nabil Anane looks to build on shocking victory in previous fight

Nabil Anane earned a spot in the stacked ONE 172 card after he scored an upset knockout victory over erstwhile streaking bantamweight contender Nico Carrillo of Scotland last January.

The Pattaya, Thailand-born fighter stopped 'The King of the North' in the opening round of their battle for the interim bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE 170 in Thailand. He displayed crisp striking and dropped Carrillo three times to the canvas for the TKO victory.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Anane spoke about his huge win over Carrillo and how it is something he looks to build on in his unification bout against reigning bantamweight Muay Thai king Superlek Kiatmoo9 this week. He said:

"I cannot describe the feeling that I had. But it was a good feeling because I was the underdog. And everyone thought I would lose, you know, by knockout. But I really shocked the world. And that's it."

The win over Carrillo was the third by knockout in the six victories of Anane in ONE Championship.