“The hard work has been done” - Nico Carrillo says workhorse ethic gives him the utmost confidence for every battle

Nico Carrillo is confident that he already has his fight with Superlek in the bag.

After scoring four-straight highlight-reel knockouts, including a pair of especially impressive wins against Thai legends Nong-O Hama and Saemapetch Fairtex in his last two outings, 'The King of the North' faces his toughest test yet when he challenges two-sport king Superlek Kiatmoo9 for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship.

Superlek vs. Carrillo goes down inside the iconic Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, January 24. But according to Carrillo, the fight itself is just a formality.

"The work's done before that though for me," Carrillo said on the Leather'd Podcast. "So I always say in interviews like so, Wednesday is media day in ONE Championship, they ask like ‘How confident you are?’ And I’m like ‘Oh I won this fight two weeks ago. I won this fight three weeks ago."

He added:

"I've been working so hard. So when that day comes, that day clicks, like in camp, you know like the hard work has been done and I've already won this fight."

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Superlek will present Nico Carrillo with his toughest test yet

Like Superlek, Nico Carrillo goes into his first ONE world title opportunity with a perfect record in the art of eight limbs under the promotional banner. Of course, 'The Kicking Machine' will have a distinct advantage when it comes to experience.

With 139 career fights to his credit, Superlek is considered to be one of the best P4P strikers on the planet — as evidenced by his series of impressive wins against the likes of Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Takeru Segawa, and most recently, Jonathan Haggerty.

Along the way, 'The Kicking Machine' has claimed both the ONE flyweight kickboxing and ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championships, the latter of which he'll put on the line against Carrillo in one of the most anticipated bouts of 2025.

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE 170: Tawanchai vs. Superbon II, which will air live on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, January 24, in U.S. primetime.