Kiamran Nabati not sold on Nabil Anane's hype train: "I don't think he has strong punches"
Through three consecutive wins under the ONE Championship banner, Kiamran Nabati has proven himself to be the real deal.
Now, the undefeated contender looks to take this to a new level with his biggest fight to date on Sept. 27.
He is set to face former bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O at ONE Friday Fights 81 but Nabati isn't the only potential future star of this division that will be in action.
In the fight that takes place before his, Nabil Anane returns to take on Soe Lin Oo in a bid to maintain his current win streak.
Despite being impressed by some aspects of Nabil's game, Nabati revealed in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post that he has some reservations about the young contender.
In his opinion, he sees a few areas that stand out as gaps in his game at this stage:
"Nabil's a young guy, he has very dangerous knees, good clinching game, but I don't think he has strong punches. He doesn't have a knockout punch. It's all just knees and clinching."
Watch the full interview below:
Kiamran Nabati isn't necessarily wrong
There is some truth to what Kiamran Nabati has to say about Nabil Anane's current game.
The top five ranked bantamweight Muay Thai contender isn't much of a puncher but he makes up for that with other aspects of his game.
His ability to control the distance thanks to his reach and height advantage over most opponents makes it hard for people to get close to him. But, if they do, his knees are some of his best weapons.
If both men get their hand raised on Sept. 27 at Lumpinee Stadium, perhaps we will see them meet in the near future. This is when we will find out whether Nabati was correct.
ONE Friday Fights 81 will air live in Asian primetime via watch.onefc.com.