“I’ve worked all my life to get here” - Nico Carrillo says he’s always fought at 145 pounds before signing with ONE Championship

Nico Carrillo of Scotland said he has been competing at bantamweight for almost his entire life and believes he is ready for his scheduled title clash against divisional king Superlek Kiatmoo9 next year.

The 'King of the North' will challenge 'The Kicking Machine' for his bantamweight Muay Thai gold at ONE 170 on Jan. 24, 2025 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. He said it is right up his alley and cannot wait to mix it up come fight night.

He said on the Leather'd Podcast:

"Before I signed with ONE, I fought at 66 kilos, that was the weight I was at. I fought for world titles at 66, 66.6, and I won at 70 kilos. So when I first signed to ONE, I wasn't sure about the whole hydration stuff and all that and I was when I first signed I was like I don't want to f**k it up. I don't want to get in here and mess it up and get booted right back out. I've worked all of my life to get here, so I said, what I'm going to do?"

Watch the interview below:

Nico Carrillo had his ONE debut at featherweight in February last year against Turkish fighter Furkan Karabag, whom he stopped in the third round by TKO. He followed it up with three straight matches at bantamweight, which he all won by knockout, the most recent over Thai Saemapetch Fairtex in July.

He is now angling to reach the bantamweight Muay Thai summit by seizing the world title from Superlek at ONE 170. The event will be aired live and for free in U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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Nico Carrillo not impressed with 49-second win of Superlek over Jonathan Haggerty

Nico Carrillo is not really impressed with the the 49-second KO win of Superlek Kiatmoo9 back in September in the United States to seize the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title from Jonathan Haggerty. He noted that there was nothing really special in what the Thai superstar did as he only followed a simple pattern.

Superlek became the bantamweight Muay Thai king by stopping erstwhile champion Haggerty inside the opening minute of their title clash at ONE 168: Denver with a solid right elbow to the head.

Asked for his thoughts on the Superlek victory in the same interview, Nico Carrillo highlighted that there was nothing extraordinary with what 'The Kicking Machine' did, asserting that he, too, could have done it.

He said:

"Absolutely. Because it was a very simple pattern. Superlek exploited, and if he didn't exploit it, and I fought Haggerty first, I was going to exploit it anyway."

Carrillo will try to showcase the same precision when he battles Superlek at ONE 170.