“Is his desire still there?” - Nico Carrillo questions Saemapetch’s motivation ahead of their clash
Scottish fighter Nico Carrillo is not downplaying the skills of upcoming opponent Saemapetch Fairtex. However, he questions the desire to still compete of the veteran Thai warrior.
The 'King of the North' made this known ahead of his bantamweight Muay Thai clash with Saemapetch at ONE Fight Night 23: Ok vs. Rasulov on July 5 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
He told ONE Championship in an interview:
"On the night, of course, anything can happen. But this has been going on for a few now in ONE for him. He's only 29, I know he's been fighting a lot of time though. But is his desire still there? Is it still burning like the first time he fought for the belt?"
Nico Carrillo has been unstoppable since making his ONE Championship debut in April last year. He has won three straight, all coming by way of knockout. The latest of his victories was over former bantamweight Muay Thai king Nong-O Hama back in December.
Saemapetch, for his part, has been competing in ONE since 2018, vying for the bantamweight belt against Nong-O in November 2019 but lost. He was last in action in February, winning by TKO over Algerian Mohamed Younes Rabah in their rematch.
ONE Fight Night 23 will be available live and for free to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Nico Carrillo gunning for KO finish against Saemapetch
Nico Carrillo is eyeing an explosive victory over Saemapetch Fairtex at ONE Fight Night 23 on Prime Video on July 5 by way of knockout. And he believes he can deliver on it on fight night.
The 29-year-old Glasgow native said he is using the Saemapetch match to make a statement and solidify his case for a shot at the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title against reigning divisional king Jonathan Haggerty.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Nico Carrillo spoke about how he envisions the match against Saemapetch going down, saying:
"A knockout is coming. It will be calculated, and it will come. I will find it. I always do."
Carrillo is currently the No. 1 contender in the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai division after racking up three straight victories to start his ONE journey which all came by way of knockout.