Nabil Anane explains decision to accept a non-title match with Superlek at ONE 172: “They gave me two choices”

Thai-Algerian ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nabil Anane explained the world title dilemma after his recent victory over Thai icon 'The Kicking Machine' Superlek Kiatmoo9 last week at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang.

In a controversial turn of events, but not entirely out of left field, Superlek failed weight and hydration tests the night before his showdown with Anane, causing the champion to lose his belt on the scales.

However, it was at that point that things became really muddy. ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed backstage that Superlek did not want to fight at all. That was when they gave Anane a few options.

The 20-year-old explained the situation on Instagram:

"They gave me two choices. First was to decline the fight because my opponent didn’t agree to fight in five rounds, even though he was not on weight, but it’s because he did three cuttings. I can understand that it’s tiring to lose weight."

Anane added:

"The fight was at bantamweight 145 lbs. I was at 144.75 lbs, and he was at 146.2 lbs. So I got 30 percent from his fight purse. I accepted the second choice without a title shot for three rounds."

What ensued was a savage beatdown for Anane, as he turned in a dominant performance to beat Superlek via unanimous decision.

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Who's next for Nabil Anane?

Aside from the obvious rematch against Superlek, interim bantamweight Muay Thai king Nabil Anane has a couple of amazing options for his next fight in ONE Championship.

There's a potential matchup against 'The General' Jonathan Haggerty on the table, as the Englishman is looking to regain the bantamweight Muay Thai gold after losing it to Superlek last year.

But there's also a case to be made for an Anane fight against 'The Iron Man' Rodtang Jitmuangnon, who had been keen to test the waters at bantamweight for some time now.