ONE Interim Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nabil Anane continues to evolve in front of our eyes. His performance this past weekend at ONE 172 was no exception. There, he outclassed former two-division, two-sport ONE World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9.
The Algerian-Thai dominated “The Kicking Machine” in a non-title bantamweight Muay Thai bout on Sunday, March 23, inside Japan’s Saitama Super Arena to earn the unanimous decision.
Superlek was set to defend the bantamweight Muay Thai gold against Anane, but he was stripped of the crown after failing to make weight and pass the hydration test.
Nonetheless, ONE 172 marked a huge moment in Anane’s thriving career. He evened the score with the pound-for-pound great following his first-round loss in their inaugural clash two years ago.
And while many now view him as the uncrowned king, he looks to bring that to fruition and get his hands on the lineal World Title in the near future.
“Yes, winning [against] Superlek means a lot to me. It means very, very much to me, because this was my dream and my first goal, and I have achieved it. And the title, I feel bad that it wasn’t a match with a title,” he said.
“But what can I do? I don’t know. I had a lot of sacrifices also for this fight, because Superlek was, to beat him, to fight him and win, was one of my goals. But I thought that I would have the title also, I would have the belt here or there. But it’s okay — next time.”
