The Thai striking legend will welcome “King Of The North” back to the featherweight fold at ONE Fight Night 30: Kryklia vs. Knowles on Saturday, April 5, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium, and he’s motivated to prove his cynics wrong.
Sitthichai’s loss to Shadow Singha Mawyn in his most recent ONE outing last December has led some to believe he hasn’t got what it takes to overcome Carrillo. But he insists that doubt only fuels him to go further.
“Many people think that I have no chance with Nico. I want them to find out on fight day. Because in the ring, everything is decided by timing. Whoever has a better fight will win,” Sitthichai said.
“It’s a fight between two people in the ring. Criticism has no effect there. I will take those criticisms as motivation for me to not give up easily.”
Across 11 bouts in ONE Championship, “Killer Kid” has seen off many of the best featherweight strikers the promotion has on offer. He even outstruck reigning Muay Thai king Tawanchai PK Saenchai in 2021.
With his current No. 4-ranked spot, Sitthichai knows he’s never far from his first World Title opportunity.
There’s been no mention of a shot at the gold awaiting him should he defeat Carrillo this weekend, but the 33-year-old brawler is determined to leave victorious nonetheless so that he can stay right in the hunt.
“If I want to become a champion, I have to maintain my ranking for as long as possible,” Sitthichai said.
“As I get older, I want to be a ONE world champion at least once in my life because ONE is the biggest organization. If someone becomes a champion in ONE, they’re considered a superstar. Everyone wants to be at that pinnacle, so this fight is very important.”
