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Despite being in street clothes, ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nabil Anane was admittedly a bundle of nerves at ONE Friday Fights 114 last June 27.
After all, he was there to support his younger brother Yonis Anane, who made his ONE Championship debut in a strawweight Muay Thai battle against China's Liu Junchao.
While it was evident at times that the younger Anane was still extremely raw and inexperienced, the 17-year-old showed glimpses of brilliance and powered his way to a unanimous decision win to get his ONE career on the right track.
Quite frankly, his big brother couldn't be any prouder. Nabil Anane spoke to Mitch Chilson shortly after witnessing Yonis get his hand raised.
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The 21-year-old Algerian-Thai superstar said in his ONE Friday Fights 114 in-ring interview:
"Yes, for me to see about Yonis’ future and the victory he got tonight, I’m happy for him. I think he still needs a lot of improvement and experience fighting here in ONE Championship."
Moreover, the Team Mehdi Zatout star pupil revealed how nervous he was for his sibling, but glad to see him get the job done. Anane added:
"On the first walkout with Yonis, I feel more excited than my own walkout. I’m just 21, and my little brother is just 17. Both of us have a long way to go, and we need to keep on improving ourselves."
Nabil Anane elevated to undisputed ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion
Most fans and pundits believe Nabil Anane should have shaken off his interim tag the moment he pulled off a massive upset against Superlek Kiatmoo9 last March.
Needless to say, ONE Championship heard the people's plea and elevated the 21-year-old as the undisputed king of the 145-pound Muay Thai division.
An elated Nabil Anane told Nick Atkin after the event:
"I thought they would announce a fight for me or something, you know. But I was up there and they just announced that I’m now the champion at bantamweight. I was surprised."
The Algerian-Thai superstar continued:
"I didn’t have any words to say, you know, because I was so happy and I was shaking. This was my first time I was this happy. I just want to thank ONE so much. I didn’t know what to do."
