“My heart was broken” - Nico Carrillo admits dealing with emotional pain after stunning knockout loss to Nabil Anane

Scottish striker Nico Carrillo admitted that the knockout loss he absorbed at the hands of Nabil Anane last month hit differently and is something he is still coming to terms with.

'The King of the North" was so looking to claim the interim bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE 170 on Jan. 24 when he had the rug pulled out from under him by Algerian-Thai phenom Anane, who knocked him down three times in the opening round to score the huge upset TKO win.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Carrillo opened up about what went down in his last fight and how he is dealing with it, saying:

"My body’s absolutely fine. Probably the least injured I’ve ever come out of a fight. But my heart was broken, so it’s a very different experience for me."

Watch the interview below:

Prior to the KO loss to Anane, Nico Carrillo was on an impressive winning roll, winning his first four matches since making his ONE Championship debut in April 2023, with all of his wins coming by way of knockout.

He was initially set to challenge for the bantamweight Muay Thai belt at ONE 170 against reigning divisional king Superlek Kiatmoo9, but the Thai superstar had to pull out in the lead-up because of injury.

Meanwhile, Anane is now gearing up to unify the bantamweight belts as he battles Superlek at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 in Japan.

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Nico Carrillo is looking at moving up to featherweight

Following his stunning KO defeat to Nabil Anane last time around, Nico Carrillo brought up plans of moving up to featherweight, which he said might be suitable for him at this stage of his career.

He shared this in an Instagram post following his loss to Anane at ONE 170. He shared a photo of him trying to make his way from the canvas after being dropped and captioned it with:

"Thank you everyone for your support and messages. It makes me very grateful to be a British fighter. It makes dealing the the L a little easier knowing yous are all behind me, In the end everything is ok, if it’s not ok it’s not then end. "

Carrillo added:

"Featherweight is where my focus will go to now. Same destination, different journey. Now watch me climb to the peak of the mountain all over again."

At featherweight, Nico Carrillo will be competing against a different set but equally potent roster of fighters, led by reigning divisional king Tawanchai PK Saenchai and contenders Superbon, Bampara Kouyate, Jo Nattawut, Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong and Luke Lessei.