“I wasn’t supposed to fight” - Nabil Anane says he put plans of taking a break on hold just to fight Superlek

ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nabil Anane was not supposed to see action on a short turnaround following his huge victory in January. He, however, said the opportunity to run it back against Superlek in a world title setting was just too good to pass up on.

The 20-year-old Team Mehdi Zatout standout shared an Instagram post following his dominant decision victory over 'The Kicking Machine' at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

In his post, he agreed that the decision to agree to a match with a short turnaround was tough, but he just knew he had to do it because it was against Superlek.

Anane wrote:

"I’m going to talk about the disadvantage I had in this fight camp. I wasn’t supposed to fight because I had been training since February 2024, and I wanted to take a small break. I have been training really hard for a long time and fought very tough fighters."

The rematch with Superlek was supposed to be a unification bout for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title until the Thai superstar, the erstwhile divisional king, was stripped of the championship belt for failing his weight and hydration tests at the official weigh-ins.

The fight was then changed to a three-round, non-title contest, with Anane scoring his long-sought payback for the KO loss he absorbed at the hands of Superlek two years ago. The win was the seventh straight for Nabil Anane and fourth in the last eight months.

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

Nabil Anane says he is getting the hang of competing in high-stakes matches

The showdown and victory against Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 172 was the second high-stakes match Nabil Anane had in a row. He said it is something he is now used to.

He spoke about it in an interview with the South China Morning Post ahead of ONE 172, highlighting how it helped him get comfortable heading into fight night.

Anane said:

"It is quite normal, you know? Every time it's a big fight. But now I'm quite used to it."

Watch the interview below:

Prior to taking on Superlek at ONE 172, Anane dominated Nico Carrillo of Scotland on his way to an opening-round TKO win in their battle for the interim bantamweight Muay Thai belt in January.