ONE Championship has thrown together a short notice interim title fight between Nico Carrillo and Nabil Anane at next month’s ONE 170 card in Bangkok.
The winner will go on to face bantamweight Muay Thai champ Superlek, whose withdrawal from the event at Impact Arena on January 24 was revealed by Carrillo’s coach JP Gallacher on Sunday.
A title unification bout will take place on March 23’s ONE 172 card at Saitama Super Arena in Japan, the Asia-based martial arts promotion confirmed on Monday.
ONE also confirmed Superlek had suffered a knee injury in training, saying: “We wish him all the best in his recovery.”
“Boom. The show goes on. I will still get my gold,” Carrillo wrote in a social media post.
“Biggest opportunity, trust me – I don’t want to miss it too,” Nabil said in his own post.
Thai-Algerian Nabil, 20, was set to face Kiamran Nabati at ONE 170, but the fight has now been cancelled.
The No 3-ranked Nabati of Russia, who trains out of Phuket Fight Club, could still stay on the card, with former title challenger Felipe Lobo a potential opponent.
Brazil’s Lobo revealed in a social media post he had signed a new bout agreement at the weekend, with his coach John Hutchinson mentioning the fight was “four weeks away”.
