Nico Carrillo “Grateful” After The Biggest Victory of His Career at ONE Fight Night 30

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Scottish knockout artist Nico Carrillo returned with a bang. On Saturday, 5 April, he knocked out the legendary Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong in the second round of their featherweight Muay Thai bout at ONE Fight Night 30.

After suffering a devastating loss to now-reigning ONE Interim Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nabil Anane this past January, Carrillo moved up a division to prove he belongs among the best of the best.

The fans at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok were firmly behind their local Thai hero. That made it a daunting task for the Scot - but he rose to the occasion, demolishing him in under six minutes. The 26-year-old sensation later revealed he was afraid of losing again.

"I was confident, but I was scared. I was just so scared of losing again. 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," Carrillo said.

"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."

Before this high-profile fight, Carrillo had knocked out four athletes in ONE and suffered only one loss. He then decided to move up to featherweight to begin his redemption. He was given a tough opponent in Sitthichai, an eight-time Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion.

The man who knocked out Nong-O Hama expected a tough contest, given the calibre of his adversary. In fact, he threw everything he had at him and was surprised by his resilience.

"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," he said.

"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."