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Scottish striking sensation Nico Carrillo has drawn inspiration from hip-hop artist 50 Cent's artistic lyrics and philosophy, reflecting on his journey from a world championship defeat to a redemptive victory over striking great Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong.
The Deachkalek Muay Thai Academy standout, who suffered his first promotional defeat to Nabil Anane during their ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai tiff at ONE 170 in January, found profound meaning in overcoming that setback with one of the most impressive victories of his career.
"You know something, it's like 50 Cent said: joy wouldn't feel so good if it wasn't for pain, sunshine wouldn't feel so good if it wasn't for rain," Carrillo told Conor Malone when asked about his mindset to come back from a defeat. "And I felt that. Winning and winning and winning, there's no better feeling. But when you go down, the joy of winning is just amplified times 100."
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Rather than allowing the defeat to define what the future holds, 'King of the North' took it upon himself to use it as a learning lesson to bounce back. And, boy, did he do it in some fashion as he knocked out the multi-time world champion to maintain his vicious 100 percent finishing rate in the organization at ONE Fight Night 30 this past April.
If given the chance, he'd love to run it back with Anane, and if he redeems himself against the towering Thai-Algerian, Nico Carrillo believes it'll make up for the best possible storyline to world title glory.
"I do wish I won it that night. But in the end, it will just be how epic a story I can tell. Yes, I failed at the first hurdle, but I have a never die attitude and I kept going, and one day, I will win the title," Nico Carrillo shared.
"I failed at the first hurdle but I will get it, and when it's all said and done, that's what I'll look back at and say: you had an epic story just because you failed the first time. You never quit, you always kept going."
Watch Nico Carrillo's full interview with Conor Malone here:
Nico Carrillo says Nabil Anane has "grown so much" since Superlek defeat
Nabil Anane's upsetting win over Nico Carrillo earned him the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world title and a unification bout against divisional king 'The Kicking Machine' Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 172 this past March.
Though Superlek's weight-cut error saw him stripped of the world title and their five-round scrap turning into a three-round contest, Anane showed up on fight night and stunned the Thai icon with a solid three-round showing to level their series at one win apiece inside the Saitama Super Arena.
In a separate interview with the South China Morning Post, Nico Carrillo gave his former foe praise, saying:
"People are saying ‘ooh Superlek’s done this and that.’ Nabil, who’s grown so much from that fight, and then you think about how Nabil from 135 is transformed to a 145-er who’s doing really well."
