Nico Carrillo may seem brash or arrogant to some, but he's adamant that it's just his way of showing his confidence heading into fights.
The Scottish knockout machine is again on that tenacious train ahead of his impending matchup against Superlek Kiatmoo9 for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at the stacked ONE 170 event on Jan. 24, 2025.
In an interview on the Leather'd Podcast, Carrillo said his unwavering spirit comes from his general upbringing and his decision to dedicate more than a decade of his life to martial arts.
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Nico Carrillo said:
"It comes with experience. I’ve been doing it since I was 15. So you just get used to it."
That experience and confidence ultimately carried the 26-year-old to a rampaging start to his ONE Championship career.
Carrillo is a perfect 4-0 in his tenure with the promotion, with all four of his wins coming by way of devastating knockout.
'King of the North' sent Furkan Karabg, Muangthai PK Saenchai, former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O Hama, and Saemapetch Fairtex to the shadow realm in his march to the throne.
Carrillo now heads into the biggest match of his career when he attempts to take the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title from Superlek in Bangkok.
Watch Carrillo's entire interview below:
Nico Carrillo plans to emulate Mike Tyson and Saenchai in his world title challenge against Superlek
Nico Carrillo has built a rough and devastating style that he's used in his run in ONE Championship, but he plans to change things up when he takes on Superlek for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE 170.
Superlek, who also holds the ONE flyweight kickboxing world title, is riding an impressive 11-fight winning streak and looks better with every passing victory.
Carrillo, however, plans to emulate boxing legend Mike Tyson and Muay Thai icon Saenchai to dethrone Superlek.
He said on the Leather'd Podcast:
"Even if I'm taking leg kicks and all that, I'm still going to shoulder roll, and I'm just going to work on my boxing, and then the next day, I'm going to try and be like Mike Tyson, and I'm going to bob and weave, and I'm going to [do a] haymaker. I'm not going to do any kicking. And then I would watch Saenchai. He's like the absolute greatest of all time when it comes to Muay Thai. I'm going to try his style. I'm going to shuffle my feet and kick."