Nico Carrillo following in the footsteps of key rivals in move to featherweight: "Now it's my turn"

Nico Carrillo opened up on his decision to move up a division after a nightmare camp leading up to his first promotional defeat at ONE 170.

'King of the North' was tipped by many to claim the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world championship against then-No. 4-ranked contender Nabil Anane inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

However, the young Thai-Algerian star crushed the Deachkalek Muay Thai Academy athlete's dream and walked away with 26 pounds of gold, a cool US$50,000 performance bonus, and a ticket to a unification matchup with divisional king Superlek Kiatmoo9.

Shortly after the fight, the Scottish fighter posted a lengthy clip on his Instagram account, detailing all his struggles through fight camp to maintain the 145-pound limit.

With added muscle mass due to strength and conditioning and other factors, 'King of the North' decided it was about time to move up a division in pursuit of greatness.

In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Nico Carrillo pointed to Jonathan Haggerty and Superlek's success since they moved up a weight class as another factor that persuaded him:

"Jonathan Haggerty did the same thing. Superlek did the same thing. Now it's my turn to do the same thing at 155."

Watch the full interview here:

---

Nico Carrillo has nothing but respect for Nabil Anane

Though things didn't favor him at ONE 170, Nico Carrillo remained gracious in defeat.

In the same interview with SCMP, 'King of the North' tipped his hat to the young superstar, who is just weeks out from his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title unification contest against Superlek:

"Yeah, Nabil's getting better and better."

Superlek and Anane's rematch will be one of several intriguing contests set to take place at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang inside the Saitama Super Arena.

The entire card will be available to fight fans for free via watch.onefc.com on Sunday, March 23.