“It was my last dance” - Nico Carrillo reveals he was moving to featherweight regardless of the outcome vs. Nabil Anane

Let's make one thing clear: Nico Carrillo's move to featherweight has nothing to do with a loss.

At ONE 170 in February, the Scottish standout suffered a brutal first-round knockout against Thai-Algerian phenom Nabil Anane. From the outside, it looked like the kind of defeat that might spark a drastic career change.

However, the reality is that Carrillo had pushed his body to the limit for long enough. 'King of the North' says that apparently, the decision had already been made long before fight night. Talking to ONE Championship, Carrillo said:

“Even if I’d beaten Superlek that night as originally booked, or if I’d have beaten Nabil at ONE 170, I was going to vacate the belt and move straight to featherweight. It was my last dance at bantamweight. I was already there."

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“A real struggle” - Nico Carrillo admits making bantamweight limit was ‘absolute torture’ despite dominance

The truth is that while Carrillo dominated at bantamweight, behind every win was a spell to meet the weight bracket's limit that was insidiously wearing him down. Taking to ONE Championship, he said:

“Bantamweight was a real struggle," he told ONE Championship. "Looking back, it made me realize how mentally strong I was to make that weight for so long. But also how much torture I was putting myself through in order to get there.”

Now at featherweight, Carrillo is in a better place - both physically and mentally. By eliminating the toll of scrapping weight, his focus is 100 percent on polishing his skills so he can enter the Circle in peak condition.

Carrillo is set to make his featherweight Muay Thai debut in a match against Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong on April 4 at ONE Fight Night 30. Fans in Canada and North America can stream it live on Fight Night with an active Prime Video subscription.