"It was the beginning of the end" - Nico Carrillo pinpoints the moment he knew he had Nong-O in danger
Nico Carrillo turned the tide in stunning fashion against former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O Hama in December last year.
After being on the receiving end of constant waves of attacks from the Thai icon, 'King of the North' began to find a couple of openings and string together combinations in the second round of their bantamweight Muay Thai duel at ONE Friday Fights 46.
And just 90 seconds in, he got what he came for, all despite appearing to be limping on one leg.
The 27-year-old floored the Evolve MMA athlete with a barrage of strikes. Though Nong-O survived the count and found his feet, Nico Carrillo launched in with a final elbow to seal the deal at 1:28 of the canto.
The Scottish striker had this to say to the Leather'd Podcast on the turning point that led to arguably the best finish of his time under the ONE Championship banner:
"As he was coming in, he tries and kicks out my back leg now because I switched the hands. I put his guard down as he done it and elbowed him because at the start I was a lot bigger."
The Deachkaley Muay Thai Academy athlete continued:
"So he's thinking, 'Oh I need to defend really tight, and he gets more confident, but I've hurt him.' And that's what my coach pointed out and it's exactly what happened. I waited for it and it was the beginning of the end as soon as I hit him with that elbow."
Watch Nico Carrillo's full appearance on the Leather'd Podcast here:
It was just another usual night out for Nico Carrillo
As significant as that win was, fans who have long followed his journey knew that it wasn't anything out of the box for Nico Carrillo.
'King Of The North' always stays composed even in the face of adversity, and his ability to pull off an upset against someone of Nong-O's caliber is something he's done in the past, albeit against less experienced opponents.
Carrillo has continued to haunt every opponent he's faced in the division so far, with four successive highlight-reel wins.
Next up for the talented knockout artist is a ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title contest against newly minted two-sport, two-division king Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 170 inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on January 24.
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch their world title fight and the entire card live and for free.