“That hardship affected me big time” - Nico Carrillo says shocking TKO to Nabil Anane pushed him to evolve his game

As humbling as it was, Nico Carrillo admitted that his shocking defeat to Nabil Anane pushed him to evolve his game to new heights.

Carrillo was riding an unstoppable force of momentum when he won his four fights in ONE Championship. That ascent was stopped when he ran into Anane for the shot at the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world title.

Anane needed 2:35 to send Carrillo crashing to earth, scoring a sublime technical knockout win over the rampaging Scotsman at ONE 170 in January.

In an interview with Conor Malone, Carrillo admitted that his first-round TKO loss to Anane shook him to his core and forced him to reevaluate himself as a fighter.

Nico Carrillo said:

"That hardship affected me big time. It was probably one of the hardest things I've dealt with from what I can remember. I've been winning for so long, so this one hit hard. But in order to grow, I feel that failure is mandatory."

Since that defeat, Carrillo returned to the 155-pound featherweight class and recovered with a massive knockout win against Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong at ONE Fight Night 30.

Gone was Carrillo's previous marauding style, and he carefully dissected Sitthichai in the first round with a methodical pace never seen during his ONE Championship tenure.

Using his elbows to bait Sitthichai into a high guard, Carrillo went to the body and clocked the Thai legend with a left hook to the midsection for the first knockdown in the second round.

Carrillo then ended Sitthichai with another left hook to the midsection 2:20 into the second round.

Watch Carrillo's entire interview below:

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Nico Carrillo has no plans of calling anyone out

Nico Carrillo has re-entered arguably the toughest division in ONE Championship, but he's not one to take shots at anyone in the top five of the featherweight Muay Thai class.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Carrillo said he'll face any fighter ONE Championship's matchmakers put in front of him. He said:

"I'm not even trying to call anybody out. I'm sure that ONE Championship will make the right decision. They'll make the right fight when the time comes. I'm sure they want me back."