"The king is back" - Fans hail Nico Carrillo's brutal return to form in sublime knockout finish of Thai legend Sitthichai

Third-ranked ONE bantamweight Muay Thai star Nico Carrillo officially announced his arrival to the featherweight Muay Thai division with a highlight-reel finish of Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong at ONE Fight Night 30 last Friday, April 4.

With the odds stacked against him because the 155-pound division is Sitthichai's home turf since his July 2020 promotional debut, Carrillo had to pull out something from his deep bag of tricks.

That something turned out to be his elbows and shovel hooks, with the former bloodying up 'Killer Kid' late in the first round and the latter leading to the Thai icon's demise at the 2:20 mark of the second round.

Watch the fight-ending body shot from ringside below, which ONE posted on Instagram:

Fans were overjoyed to see Carrillo looking better than ever inside the circle, commending him on a job well done in the comments section:

"The king is back 🔥"

"Nico > REAL DEl 🔥🔥"

"King of the North is a cold ass name."

"Nico looking good after that last loss give him Shadow next."

Screenshot of comments. [ONE Championship/Instagram]

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Nico Carrillo shied away from making a call out after Sitthichai victory

Usually ready to name whom he wants to share the circle with next, Nico Carrillo surprisingly decided against it following his knockout of Sitthichai. He explained why in the post-fight interview with ONE commentator Mitch Chilson, saying:

"Obviously, I don't have a message right now. I ain't trying to call out anybody out right now. After my loss to Nabil [Anane], I lost myself a little bit, and I had to get back in the win column in order to find peace in myself again."

Fans in the United States and Canada with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch ONE Fight Night 30 on demand.