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Russian martial arts icon Anatoly Malykhin thought he knew how the match between Nabil Anane and Superlek Kiatmoo9 was going to play out. However, when Anane handed Superlek a decisive loss at ONE 172, 'Sladkiy' had to pause.
Speaking to ONE Championship, Malykhin said:
"I was surprised by Nabil Anane the way he beat Superlek. I thought Superlek would win. But something looked off like Superlek wasn’t sharp, wasn’t fully ready. That was probably the biggest surprise for me."
Superlek, the ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion, known for his precision and conditioning, looked unusually flat that night in Saitama. Make no mistake, Anane’s performance was brilliant, but the Thai veteran didn’t appear to be firing on all cylinders.
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And if there was another match that didn't go according to Anatoly Malykhin's predictions, it's this one:
"And of course, Rodtang’s quick win. I was expecting a real back-and-forth war."
“People will have a lot to say” - Superlek explains refusal to withdraw despite being ill in Nabil Anane fight
Now, two months after the fateful night, Superlek broke his silence to explain what happened in his defeat to the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, he confirmed that he’d gone into the bout less than 100 percent. But after already pulling out of a fight with Nico Carrillo earlier in the year, he said stepping away again wasn’t an option he was willing to take:
"I just want to put it out there that this is not an excuse - just something that really happened and that you know when I speak out there were also people that said. ‘Oh if you are sick if you are not at 100 percent, why didn't you withdraw?’"
Superlek added:
"But I already did that with Nico Carrillo because of my injury, and then I think, you know, if I withdraw again, then people will have a lot to say."
ONE 172 is available via replay on watch.onefc.com.
