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Nabil Anane loves his interim title, but he's eager to upgrade it. In January, the six-foot-four Algerian-Thai sensation shocked the world via a first-round TKO of Nico Carrillo at ONE 170 to claim the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world championship.
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Two months later, he returned to the ring at ONE 172 and landed an even bigger victory, besting former two-sport titleholder Superlek Kiatmoo9 in one of the most anticipated rematches in ONE history.
With the win, Anane set the stage for a trilogy fight between himself as 'The Kicking Machine,' with the winner likely leaving as the undisputed ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion.
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"This is my only special world championship, brother. But because I have the [interim] belt, I have to wait for the champion," Anane said during an appearance on Nickynachat.
Anane has not yet booked his threequel with Superlek, but he's ready to show the world that he's one of the best P4P strikers on the planet.
Nabil Anane knew he could give Superlek a run for his money the second time around
The first time Nabil Anane met Superlek, things did not go the 21-year-old's way.
'The Kicking Machine' finished Anane in just over two minutes, all the way back at ONE Friday Fights 22. To be fair, Anane was making his promotional debut against one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters on the planet—a pretty tall order even for a fighter who towers above the rest.
But what was especially impressive was how Anane responded to the loss.
He got back into the gym, trained hard, and rattled off six straight victories, including wins over names like Muangthai, Soe Lin Oo, Felipe Lobo, and Nico Carrillo, before coming full circle and scoring some redemption against Superlek in Japan.
"I was sure that I could do better than before," Anane said of his rematch with Superlek. "I'm sure that it won't be like the first fight. My mindset, I set it not to be like the first round [of the first fight]."
Now, the question is, can Nabil Anane do it against when he meets 'The Kicking Machine' in an inevitable trilogy bout?
If you missed any of the action, you can watch the full ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang replay on demand via watch.onefc.com.
