Nico
Carrillo claims he hasn’t hit his peak despite compiling a
winning streak against some of the beset muay thai has to
offer.
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Carrillo left yet another veteran in his wake with a second-round
TKO win over Saemapetch
Fairtex in the co-main event at
ONE on Prime Video 23. The Scotsman knocked Saemapetch down
twice before scoring the final knockdown to secure the finish.
Carrillo admitted that he faced initial difficulty with
Saemapetch’s unorthodox defense but was sure of securing the finish
once he had made the necessary adjustments.
“I’m not surprised [at Saemapetch’s durability]. I think he had a
bit of a weird tactic,” Carrillo said at the post-fight press
conference. “He was ducking his head when I was coming in close,
and I had to readjust to that, because it was taking the power out
of my shots. That was a bit strange. But after I readjusted, yeah,
I knew he wasn’t going to be able to take the shots.”
This marked the second consecutive TKO win over a muay thai
standout for Carrillo after knocking out former champ Nong-O
Gaiyanghadao in December 2023. While Carrillo knows his meteoric
rise to muay thai stardom already stands out, the 25-year-old
claims the best of him is yet to come.
“Yeah, I’m still improving, [even] in this fight camp alone,” he
said. “I’m a new fighter compared to seven months ago, when I
fought Nong-O. That shows how much I’m improving [I’ve done] in a
space of one fight camp. I was inactive for five to three months
because of surgery. So I only went back in for 10 weeks, maybe. So
in 10 weeks, not even in 10 weeks, six weeks, I’ve improved so
much, and I don’t believe I’m in my prime yet. I don’t think I’ll
be at my prime until I’m like 27-28. You should still see the best
of Nico [to come], and I’m like fine wine.”
With his victory, Carrillo also made a strong case for the next
bantamweight title shot against the winner of the upcoming title
clash between Jonathan
Haggerty and Superlek at
ONE Championship 168 in September. Carrillo prefers Haggerty as
an opponent just because he wants to be the one to dethrone the
Brit.
“I would prefer to fight Haggerty, not because he’s better or
anything,” Carrillo said. “I would just like to be the one to take
the belt from him.”