Marat Grigorian welcomes Nico Carrillo’s featherweight switch: “We need more meat in this division”

Marat Grigorian is excited to see Nico Carrillo move up to the featherweight division.

After suffering a shocking loss against Nabil Anane at ONE 170, 'The King of the North' announced that he would move up from bantamweight to featherweight to help mitigate a strenuous weight cut.

Now, Carrillo is set to make his featherweight Muay Thai debut on Friday, April 5, when ONE Championship heads back to the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok for ONE Fight Night 30 on Prime Video.

There, Carrillo will go toe-to-toe with Thai legend Sitthichai Sitsonpeenong.

Discussing Carrillo's move up with the South China Morning Post, Grigorian welcomed the Scottish star to the division with open arms, noting that the featherweight division needs a little more "meat:"

"I was really surprised because the last time I was in Thailand, he [Nico Carrillo] asked me to go and spar with him," Grigorian said. "But I was a little bit busy. I didn’t have time. I had some injuries and I didn’t want to spar. But yes, it’s a good thing. Why not? We need more meat in this division. It’s better for us."

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Will Nico Carrillo add another Thai legend to his resume at ONE Fight Night 30?

ONE Fight Night 30 will be Nico Carrillo's first time competing since coming up short against Nabil Anane in January.

Before that, he was a perfect 4-0 under the ONE Championship banner with all of his wins coming by way of knockout, including star-making victories over Thai icons like Nong-O Hama and Saemapetch.

Next, he'll try to add another legend to his hit list when he meets Sitthichai, a former GLORY Kickboxing champion with 129 career victories to his credit.

Will Carrillo climb back into the win column and thrust his way into the featherweight Muay Thai rankings, or will Sitthichai hand 'The King of the North' his second straight loss on martial arts' biggest global stage?

ONE Fight Night 30 will air live on Amazon Prime Video in the United States and Canada in U.S. primetime on Friday, April 5.