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Second-ranked ONE Championship bantamweight Muay Thai contender 'King of the North' Nico Carrillo of Scotland was in utter disbelief when undisputed bantamweight Muay Thai king 'The Kicking Machine' Superlek Kiatmoo9 pulled out of their scheduled bout this weekend at the eleventh hour.
Carrillo was scheduled to face Superlek at ONE 170 for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title, but the latter fell to injury in training and had to withdraw from the contest.
Luckily for Carrillo, ONE Championship immediately booked him opposite no.5-ranked contender Nabil Anane for the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world title. And while that goes down this weekend, Carrillo can't help but recall exactly what he felt when Superlek was announced out of their fight.
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'King of the North' told veteran reporter Nick Atkin:
"You should have seen my face…I got a phone call that Superlek sustained a knee injury, which obviously….this has been the longest camp of my life, I had just trained for so long, got on a flight to Thailand four weeks ago, already put in honestly about six or seven hard weeks, and I just honestly, literally, the first training session."
Carrillo added:
"I had been out a run had two days just to kind of get used to my sleep and stuff like that. Then the first day, I was about to go out a run and got the phone call, they said Superlek’s pulled out. It was just like putting a pin in a bubble. But obviously ONE Championship salvaged it and straight after that, it was just business as usual."
Nico Carrillo and Nabil Anane battle for interim bantamweight Muay Thai throne at ONE 170
In Superlek's absence, Nico Carrillo and Nabil Anane will now go to war for the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world title.
The two lock horns in the co-main event at ONE 170, which will broadcast live from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, January 24.
Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action live and for free on watch.onefc.com. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates on the event as it happens.
