Nabil Anane says move up to featherweight could come sooner than expected: "I'm starting to get bigger"

Nabil Anane has hinted that his ambitious multi-division championship plans could accelerate as his natural physical development begins pushing him toward higher weight classes.

The reigning ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion has outlined his unprecedented blueprint for capturing six belts across three weight divisions in both kickboxing and Muay Thai.

During an interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Anane said:

"Featherweight for me, I don't know, but now I'm starting to get bigger also. I'm starting to get bigger, really bigger. And I don't know why. I think because I'm training and eating, I think so."

He further said:

"But bantamweight is still easy for me. I need to get a little bit bigger, more bigger if I want to fight at featherweight. But for now, I don't think I can hang with them [yet]."

The Thai-Algerian's natural growth at his young age could force him to reconsider his timeline for moving up weight classes sooner than originally planned.

Though he doesn't think that he could share the ring with the featherweight talents just yet, many believe the Team Mehdi Zatout star has what it takes to ease himself into arguably the most stacked division across all the combat sports.

His towering frame and continued growth at 21 years old suggest he may naturally outgrow the bantamweight division sooner than anticipated.

Watch his full interview with SCMP below:

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Nabil Anane's ferocious rise in ONE Championship

Since suffering a first-round knockout loss to Superlek Kiatmoo9 in his ONE Championship debut at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June 2023, the young star has won seven consecutive fights against top-level competition in the organization.

He knocked out Muangthai PK Saenchai, Nakrob Fairtex, and Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai while scoring decision wins against Felipe Lobo and Soe Lin Oo.

At ONE 170 this past January, Nabil Anane scored a first-round TKO over Nico Carrillo to win the interim bantamweight Muay Thai title.

Three months later at ONE 172, he defeated Superlek via unanimous decision in their rematch after the latter missed weight and was stripped of his title. Anane is now the undisputed ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion.