WATCH: Nico Carrillo’s unstoppable knockout march ahead of his world title challenge against Superlek at ONE 170
Scottish fighter Nico Carrillo has established a reputation as a bonafide knockout artist in ONE Championship, which has thrust him to a world title shot against bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 170 in January next year.
The KO parade of the 'King of The North' started in his promotional debut in April last year against Furkan Karabag of Turkey, who he pummeled with ferocious strikes and stopped in the third round by TKO. He followed it with another impressive TKO win in the second round two months later over Mungthai PK Saenchai of Thailand.
Back in December, Nico Carrillo's onslaught continued by knocking out Thai legend and former bantamweight king Nong-O Hama in the second round. The win further solidified his standing as a world title contender. Then in his last fight in July, he was again lethal, stopping Thai Saemapetch Fairtex in the second round of their barnburner.
ONE Championship compiled all the KO performances of Carrillo and shared them on Instagram for fans to appreciate ahead of his title bid at ONE 170.
Check out the post below:
ONE 170, which will take place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 24. 2025, will mark the first time that Superlek will be defending the bantamweight Muay Thai gold after seizing it in September in the United States with a 49-second knockout of erstwhile champion Jonathan Haggerty.
The event will be aired live and for free in U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Nico Carrillo says first victory in ONE was a confidence booster
Nico Carrillo has won four straight matches since making his ONE Championship debut in April last year. He, however, admits that the first one was a tad significant as it set the tone for him and was a huge confidence booster as he embarked on a new journey.
The Scotland native tore down Furkan Karabag of Turkey in his debut, going away with a third-round TKO win in their featherweight showdown.
In an interview on the Leather'd Podcast, which was uploaded on YouTube on Oct. 23, the traditional bantamweight Carrillo spoke about his ONE debut and how it impacted his push in the promotion.
He said:
"The first fight in ONE, I was always happy with just a win. I was just happy with the win, like I really just wanted to get my wee toes in the f***ing water. I thought I'm just winning, but then it was more than a win. And then I was like what? I knocked out the guy at the bigger weight. So I'm pretty sure that I'm going to keep doing it at my natural weight."
Watch the interview below:
Next for Nico Carrillo is a marquee title showdown against ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 in January.