“Lose this opportunity to get revenge” - Nabil Anane reveals why he still accepted non-title rematch with Superlek

ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nabil Anane badly wanted to exact payback on Thai superstar Superlek Kiatmoo9 that he took the risk of facing him even in a non-title fight. His gamble, however, paid off as he was able to see his goal through.

The 20-year-old Algerian-Thai phenom was one of the triumphant fighters at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. He defeated 'The Kicking Machine' by unanimous decision to even their head-to-head matchup in ONE Championship at a win apiece.

The contest was initially scheduled as a unification bout for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title until erstwhile divisional king Superlek was stripped of the championship belt for missing weight and hydration in the official weigh-in.

It still pushed through, with Anane agreeing to fight in a three-round non-title clash.

In an Instagram post following his victory, Nabil Anane talked about how it was a huge risk from his end to agree to the fight and bittersweet that he won but not able to unify the bantamweight belts. Still, he shared it was worthwhile as he got to exact payback on his tormentor.

Part of his post read:

“[My] second choice was fight in three rounds but NO TITLE SHOT for me. In my opinion, this is a disadvantage for me because I was less heavy and my opponent is not fighting in five rounds so that was an advantage for him. But I still accepted the fight because I didn’t want to [lose] this opportunity to get revenge. It was in front of me. I couldn’t let go, so I agreed to fight.”

Nabil Anane and Superlek first met in June 2023 in the former's promotional debut. The Kiatmoo9 won the flyweight Muay Thai battle by knocking out Anane in the first round.

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

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Nabil Anane shares preparation for ONE 172 made tougher by training through Ramadan

Nabil Anane said his preparation for ONE 172 was not an easy one as he had to go through training while observing the holy month of Ramadan.

A devout Muslim, the Team Mehdi Zatout standout said he had to make sure he struck a balance and make sacrifices amid the setup he had to work with.

Anane shared at the post-event press conference for ONE 172:

"I trained during Ramadan. It's very difficult for me to adapt my schedule. It was very hard for me, and there were a lot of things that I needed to sacrifice to win. And I feel like I could have done better too, but I sacrificed a lot for this victory over Superlek."

Watch the press conference below:

The win at ONE 172 was the seventh straight for Anane after losing in his ONE debut to Superlek Kiatmoo9 two years ago.