Nico Carrillo rebounded from his first ONE Championship loss in a major way at ONE Fight Night 30. On April 4, “The King of the North” moved up to featherweight to meet Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong and finished him in the second round with a clean body shot. It was a statement that he is back, in full health, and ready to make his run in his new home.
Nico Carrillo Discusses Strikes to Put Sitthichai Away
“I absolutely expected [Sitthichai] to be durable. He’s been an absolute boss, and he’s rarely ever been stopped in his full career. I think that [Marat] Grigorian stopped him, and that was about it. So no, I wasn’t surprised. That cut [on Sitthichai’s head] happened with some big elbows, though, and I was surprised when he was still standing because I threw the kitchen sink with some of them,” Nico Carrillo said after the show.
Nico Carrillo had to solve the puzzle of his Thai opponent to get the finish. It was not a straightforward bout for the Scotsman. However, once he was able to cut off the ring and fire away shots, he took full command of the action.
“I was surprised at his movement on the back foot. And he was pretty good at getting away from those power shots when I was going in straight lines. When I was hammering that right hand on him, it didn’t land much. That’s where I started having to cut angles and things like that. I was really surprised at how quick he was and how elusive he was,” the new featherweight threat commented.
A Much-Needed Win for Nico Carrillo
The victory was huge for Nico Carrillo’s mindset. After losing to Nabil Anane in January, Carrillo had to reevaluate his entire outlook on how he competed. Now, not depleting himself to make bantamweight, “The King of the North” has rediscovered his love for Muay Thai.
“I keep saying the same stuff in interviews, but it’s important to just have fun. Just enjoying the process is a big part of that, and just enjoying Muay Thai again because fight camps were a little bit torturous for me. So now I’m just enjoying a full fight camp, loving the sport again. It’s really important for me. I feel much happier at featherweight,” the Scot said.
Nico Carrillo Wasn’t About to Drop Two Fights in a Row
While he entered full of confidence, Nico Carrillo admitted he was scared of losing. He did not want to further fall with a second straight loss. However, he nabbed one of the biggest wins of his career and instantly thrust himself into the featherweight title picture.
“This victory means more to me than any victory I’ve had in my full career. This is bigger than when I beat Nong-O, when I beat Muangthai. This is bigger than any of that because I came back from a loss, and I was fighting some serious demons in January. I completely lost myself. I lost a lot of confidence, and I’m so grateful to ONE Championship – [they] allowed me to come back, to right that wrong,” Carrillo concluded.
In a recent episode of the Couch Warrior Podcast, host Mike welcomed Charalampos Grigoriou, who recently won a contract during season 7 of Dana White's Contender Series after knocking out Cameron Smotherman one minute into the fight. The conversation delved into Grigoriou's martial arts journey, his feelings on representing Cyprus and Greece, and future plans.
