“It was a very simple pattern” - Nico Carrillo not impressed by Superlek’s 49-second elbow KO of Jonathan Haggerty
Superlek Kiatmoo9 stunned the global audience when he ended Jonathan Haggerty's bantamweight Muay Thai reign in just 49 seconds at ONE 168: Denver last September.
However, it appears that 'The Kicking Machine's next challenger, Nico Carrillo, doesn't see what the fuss is all about.
As far as the Scottish devastator is concerned, Haggerty practically handed him that finish on a silver platter.
Near the one-minute mark of that high-stakes war, Superlek unleashed a brutal step-in elbow that landed flush on 'The General's temple, which shook his equilibrium and rendered him unable to continue.
While Carrillo has high praise for the Thai megastar's well-timed shot, he feels Haggerty's predictable movement made it easy to land.
'King of The North' shared in an appearance on the Leather’d Podcast:
"Absolutely. Because it was a very simple pattern. Superlek exploited, and if he didn't exploit it, and I fought Haggerty first, I was going to exploit it anyway."
Nico Carrillo has already done his due diligence on his fellow British slugger Haggerty and believes he would have done the same thing.
The second-ranked bantamweight Muay Thai contender will now shift his full attention to the new king of the 145-pound Muay Thai ranks when he challenges Superlek at ONE 170.
Prime Video subscribers in North America can watch ONE 170 free live as it happens in US Primetime on Jan. 24, 2025, from Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Nico Carrillo says beef with Jonathan Haggerty was simply about 26 pounds of gold
After his unreal 4-0 rampage under the ONE banner, Nico Carrillo understandably had sights for a world title shot.
At the time, Haggerty was at the top of the food chain at bantamweight, so the Scottish warrior called him out every chance he got.
Superlek, though, put a clamp on what could have been a thrilling Brit-on-Brit slugfest.
In the same interview, Carrillo said he didn't mind not fighting Haggerty since winning the world title has always been his priority.
"There's a big thing or motivation for beating both of them. But right now beating Superlek is way bigger than beating Haggerty. Like I said it wasn't the opponent, it was always whoever was carrying that gold, that is where I was focused on."
Watch Nico Carrillo's interview in its entirety: