Last Friday, at ONE Fight Night 23: Ok vs. Rasulov on Prime Video, top-ranked bantamweight Muay Thai contender Nico “King of the North” Carrillo continued his warpath through arguably ONE’s most stacked division.

That night, in front of a raucous Bangkok crowd at Lumpinee Stadium, the 25-year-old phenom knocked out #4-ranked contender Saemapetch Fairtex – his fourth stoppage victory in as many appearances in ONE.

How did Nico Carrillo beat Saemapetch Fairtex?

Carrillo’s bonus-winning performance came on the backs of highlight-reel finishes over two other Thai icons, decorated veteran “Elbow Zombie” Muangthai PK Saenchai and former long-reigning titleholder Nong-O Hama.

Understandably, the Scottish star was proud to keep his unblemished ONE record intact against another Thai fan-favorite. After the fight, he said, “I’m on cloud nine. I’m very happy with my performance. And yeah, another Thai legend added to the list. Not many people can say they’ve done what I’m doing.”

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With show-stopping power in all eight of his Muay Thai weapons, Carrillo has firmly established himself as one of the sport’s most dangerous finishers.

While he was largely dominant against Saemapetch, “King of the North” admits he had to adjust his approach en route to a second round that saw him score three big knockdowns:

“I think he had a bit of a weird tactic. He was ducking his head when I was coming in close, and I had to readjust to that, because it was taking the power out of my shots. That was a bit strange. But after I readjusted, yeah, I knew he wasn’t going to be able to take the shots.”

“King of the North” gets the push from his goals

Following his victory at ONE Fight Night 23, Carrillo has entrenched himself as the #1-ranked bantamweight Muay Thai contender. 

In all likelihood, he’ll be the next man to challenge for gold after reigning titleholder Jonathan “The General” Haggerty and Superlek Kiatmoo9 square off in September at ONE 168: Denver.

The World Title remains Carrillo’s ultimate goal, but he’s also happy to have scored another US$50,000 performance bonus for his efforts.

He added, “Yeah, I’m over the moon to get the bonus, and I’m motivated by goals, but obviously, when you’re good at something, I believe that you should get paid for it as well. So I’m very happy about that. What I’m going to use it for, honestly, I just really like that sat in the bank. I’m trying to save my money, stack it up.”