ONE 172: Nabil Anane Oozes Confidence Ahead of World Title Unification Bout Against Superlek

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Nabil Anane is the first one to admit that he "grew up a lot" since his debut loss in ONE Championship. Anyone who has been following his career closely would agree.

The 20-year-old ONE Interim Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion has improved leaps and bounds and is ready to showcase his arsenal on Sunday, 23 March, in one of the co-main events of ONE 172. There, he unifies belts against divisional kingpin Superlek Kiatmoo9 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

This will be a rematch of their June 2023 bout, when the pound-for-pound striking great in Superlek knocked Anane out cold in two minutes. Before making his ONE debut, Anane had never fought in small gloves, but he promised that the previous result won't repeat itself again.

"I'm still learning every day, and what happened to me last time, I wouldn't let it happen again. It was quite a hard time, but I was just a kid, and I grew up a lot. If I didn't have that lesson, maybe I wouldn't be here today," Anane said.

"Two years ago, I didn't know nothing about small [4-ounce] gloves. I didn't have this experience. I'm totally different. Very different. It was a big lesson, and I learned a lot in that fight. I'm sure that it's not going to be the same this time."

Talking about defeating "The Kicking Machine" is one big thing, but doing it is another. The best of the striking world - including Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Takeru Segawa, and Jonathan Haggerty - have all tried but failed.

However, since Anane's debut loss against the two-sport, two-division ONE World Champion, the Algerian-Thai superstar has amassed a six-fight win streak. Now, his entire focus is on decimating Superlek, and that's what he plans to do.

"I'm looking just for the win. I just want to beat Superlek," Anane said. "I don't even think about the belt. I just want the win. I just want to beat Superlek. That's it. That's what I want in this fight."