“I don’t have any ego” – Nico Carrillo admits Nong-O gave him hell with low kicks early on their fight

ONE Championship gave combat sports fans one last hurrah for 2023 with ONE Friday Fights 46 last Friday, December 22 that featured a star-making matchup Muay Thai legend Nong-O Hama and Nico Carrillo.

Carrillo, the No. 5-best ONE bantamweight Muay Thai fighter, knew that he was facing the opportunity of a lifetime when the promotion gave him the chance to fight Nong-O and fans were raring to see whether the old guard could fend off the rising upstart.

The 25-year-old took advantage of his reach early, but Nong-O’s veteran experience allowed him to bounce back late in the first round thanks to the stinging leg kicks he landed.

The “King of the North” heeded his coach’s advice weeks prior to the bout and did not underestimate Nong-O at all as he slowly found an opening that would allow him to knock out the Muay Thai great in the middle of the second round.

For his part, Carrillo admitted in the post-fight interview that Nong-O certainly did a number on his legs:

“It was sore, I’m not going to lie. I don’t have any ego. Nong-O is the hardest low kicker I’ve ever faced. I was blocking all his kicks; I was blocking them all and the pain was still riling through my shins. I went back to the corner and my coach told me to switch to southpaw, so I went in there and I knew I had to rough him up.”

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What’s next for Nico Carrillo?

If fellow ONE Championship Muay Thai star Liam Harrison is to be believed, Carrillo had just secured himself a momentous clash with reigning ONE bantamweight Muay Thai champ Jonathan Haggerty.

It remains to be seen whether the ONE Championship brass will hand him the opportunity immediately or face another fighter in the top five.