“The real issue was my mental state” - Superlek breaks his silence on shocking loss to Nabil Anane
Superlek Kiatmoo9 admitted he was a shell of his dominant self in his highly anticipated rematch with Nabil Anane.
A lot of factors came into play in 'The Kicking Machine's' supposed bantamweight Muay Thai world title unification bout with the towering Algerian-Thai sensation at ONE 172 last month.
What was expected to be a competitive matchup turned into a one-sided beatdown. Superlek even got knocked down for the first time in forever, courtesy of a wild head kick. He never recovered his bearings and was surprisingly on the short end of a unanimous decision verdict.
The Thai megastar was simply a step slower, and his elite reflexes were non-existent since he didn't attack or defend like he normally does.
Speaking for the first time since that dreadful setback, Superlek addressed the toughest loss of his career in a vlog post from Yokkao on YouTube:
"As for the physical side, I could’ve fought well. Not much pain when kicking. The real issue was my mental state. Failing the weight and hydration test really brought me down."
To be fair, Superlek already figured in a rough battle against the scales before he could even step inside the ring. The pound-for-pound best striker morale was indeed quite low after get got stripped off his bantamweight Muay Thai belt before the match, due to failing the contracted weight and hydration.
Superlek admits losing belt affected him mentally
Superlek admittedly no longer had the will to fight after his massive hiccup on the scales.
The match pushed through as a non-title three-rounder, but it was evident that 'The Kicking Machine' was mentally checked out.
"Losing the belt on the scale had a big impact on my mindset going into the fight. So I stepped into the ring in a really bad mental state on top of the physical stress," he said in the same Yokkao interview.
Watch the full video: