Superlek Kiatmoo9 defends bantamweight Muay Thai throne against surging Nico Carrillo at ONE 170
Superlek Kiatmoo9 won't get much time to revel in his most recent world title win.
The newly crowned champ-champ will defend his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title against the menacing Nico Carrillo in the co-main event of ONE 170 on Jan. 24, 2025 at Impact Arena.
The card's main event will see Tawanchai PK Saenchai defend his ONE featherweight Muay Thai world title for a second time against Superbon, the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world champion.
ONE Championship announced ONE 170's headlining bouts on Instagram:
"Muay Thai megastars COLLIDE at ONE 170 ⚔️ Superlek defends his bantamweight throne against Scottish superstar Nico Carrillo and Tawanchai puts his featherweight crown on the line in an epic rematch with Superbon on January 24! 👑👑 Who you got? @tawanchay_pk @superbon_banchamek @superlek789 @nicocarrillo_kotn."
Superlek Kiatmoo9, the reigning ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion, reached two-sport supremacy when he knocked out Jonathan Haggerty for the bantamweight Muay Thai throne in stunning fashion.
The all-champions clash between Haggerty and Superlek headlined ONE 168: Denver at Ball Arena and had massive hype behind it.
Fans at the arena expected an all-out war between the two, but Superlek decided he would have an early night out when he planted a surgical elbow down Haggerty's forehead for the 49-second knockout win.
Superlek will now defend the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title against the man many have viewed as the division's boogeyman.
Carrillo holds a perfect 4-0 record in ONE Championship, with all his wins coming via knockout.
'King of the North' sent Furkan Karabag, Muangthai PK Saenchai, Nong-O Hama, and Saemapetch Fairtex to the shadow realm in his unstoppable march to world title contention.
Superlek Kiatmoo9 admits he wanted to have a longer slugfest with Jonathan Haggerty in Denver
It may have been one of the best knockouts of the year, but Superlek Kiatmoo9 admitted that he would've wanted to have a longer fight against Jonathan Haggerty at ONE 168: Denver.
In an interview with Yokkao, Superlek said he was happy to take the sub-minute win but also wished to give the fans more of a show in his world title triumph.
He said:
"The finishing elbow wasn't my plan, but the match ended after that," he said in an interview with Yokkao. "I'm happy, of course. But part of me wanted more. I didn't think it would've been over so quickly."