Nico Carrillo always knew he was destined for superstardom, yet he admitted that there are still moments where he couldn't help but stop and admire his career's trajectory.
The Scottish knockout merchant will have the biggest fight of his career, yet, when he takes on Nabil Anane for the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world title at the stacked ONE 170 card on Friday at Impact Arena.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Carrillo said he's still in awe when he gets to grab a larger share of the spotlight every time he fights in ONE Championship.
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Nico Carrillo said:
"But right now, it’s not where I’m at. Right now I’m completely focused on Nabil. Obviously regarding the whole Tokyo [event], and it’s the biggest card, for me it would just be the next biggest thing. ‘Cause me fighting in Impact Arena is the biggest stadium. So then to go to that would just be the next biggest thing again."
'King of the North' was initially scheduled to face two-sport king Superlek Kiatmoo9 for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title.
However, Superlek, who also holds the ONE flyweight kickboxing world title, had to pull out of the card after suffering an injury in training.
Carrillo now has to get past Anane to capture the interim gold before he can set up a world title unification match against Superlek for the undisputed ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE 172.
If Carrillo secures his first piece of ONE Championship gold, his potential fight against Superlek goes down on March 23 at the historic Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
Nico Carrillo admits feeling gutted after Superlek pulled out of ONE 170
What could've been a career-defining match turned into a bit of a wait for Nico Carrillo.
The 26-year-old was supposed to challenge ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Superlek for the gold, but the Thai superstar pulled out of ONE 170 after hurting his knee in training.
In the same interview, Carrillo admitted he was gutted that his chance at undisputed gold would have to wait for a couple of months:
"It was a kick in the nuts, I was devastated, to say the least. Obviously, I’d already been training for eight weeks really hard prior to [the injury], but the fact that I’d literally just landed in Thailand, flew my full team out, family were here, family members, and friends had all booked flights for this undisputed fight, it was a kick in the nuts."