“I’m your number one contender” – Nico Carrillo confident he should be next in line for Jonathan Haggerty after KO of Nong-O

Scottish striking sensation Nico Carrillo is looking forward to landing a title shot after his impressive knockout victory over Thai legend Nong-O Hama in their showdown last month.

The ‘King of the North’ solidified his standing as a top contender in the bantamweight Muay Thai division by demolishing former longtime world champion Nong-O. Carillo accomplished that feat in two rounds of their featured showdown at ONE Friday Fights 46 on December 22 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Nico Carrillo willed his way to the win by using his reach advantage to pummel Nong-O with telling elbows and punches. It all ended in devastating fashion when he connected on a solid left elbow to the head of the 37-year-old, who went down hard at the 1:28 mark of the second round and was not able to recover.

Speaking recently to the South China Morning Post, the 25-year-old Glasgow native highlighted his case for a world title shot against reigning ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Jonathan Haggerty on the strength of his win over Nong-O, saying:

“I'm happy I did this. That’s what a 14-fight winning streak does to you. The belief, the momentum to knock out Nong-O. I’m probably your number one contender. Yeah, I’m the number one contender now. Next in line [for Jonathan Haggerty], hopefully.”

Check out what he had to say below:

The win was the 14th straight as a professional Muay Thai fighter for Carrillo and third straight in ONE since making his promotional debut in April last year. All in all, his record currently stands at 26 wins and three losses.

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Nico Carrillo credits hard training with his team for current success

Bantamweight striker Nico Carrillo said much of the success he is currently enjoying in Muay Thai is a direct result of the hard training he has with his team.

The ‘King of the North’ shared this in the same interview with the South China Morning Post, underscoring how their training sessions are so grueling that come fight night he is more than ready to go to battle, putting him in a better position to win.

Carrillo said:

“The training sessions and the stuff I put myself through back home are nothing compared to that. The fights are nothing compared to what I put myself through every day.”

Nico Carrillo has won all of his three fights to date in ONE since making his promotional debut in April last year. His latest conquest was knocking out Thai legend Nong-O Hama last month to fortify his standing as a top bantamweight contender.

His previous victories were over Turkish fighter Furkan Karabag in his ONE debut by third-round TKO and then in June over Thai Muangthai PK Saenchai, also by TKO in the second round.