Nico Carrillo is one of the brightest stars to emerge from ONE Championship’s Friday Fights series. The scrappy Scotsman has passed every test put in front of him in the promotion, and he’ll face another striking veteran in his next outing.

On Monday, ONE announced that Nico Carrillo will be pitted against Saemapetch Fairtex in a bantamweight Muay Thai tilt at ONE Fight Night 23: Buntan vs. Meksen on Saturday, 5th July, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. 

One of the brightest stars from the U.K., “King of the North” has scored three knockouts from as many fights in the world’s largest martial arts organization, and he now sits firmly atop the bantamweight Muay Thai rankings.

Carrillo’s tenure began at ONE Friday Fights 13 in April 2023, where he dispatched Furkan Karabag in the third round, and he followed that by finishing Thai sensation Muangthai PK Saenchai in the second round of their battle at ONE Friday Fights 22 two months later.

But it wasn’t until his latest appearance that the world recognised his true greatness. The 25-year-old was tasked with taking on former longtime ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama last December at ONE Friday Fights 46.

The pair brawled across two thrilling rounds, with Nong-O putting the heat on Nico Carrillo throughout. But the Scottish sensation held his own, and he picked his moment perfectly to finish his legendary Thai foe before the end of the second frame.

That performance has firmly placed him on reigning divisional king Jonathan Haggerty’s radar, and it’s a fight Carrillo is eager to book. But he’ll need to put down another world-class foe to prove he’s ready for a shot at gold.

A veteran of 14 outings in ONE Championship, Saemapetch has faced a who’s-who list of competitors in bantamweight Muay Thai, and he currently occupies the #4 spot in the divisional rankings.

The former ONE World Title challenger has taken on talents like Tawanchai PK Saenchai, Nong-O, and Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai. And while he hasn’t won every bout, he always comes back better than before, making him a consistent threat to the competition. 

Saemapetch’s last outing saw him exact revenge on Mohamed Younes Rabah in a rematch of their controversial first encounter at ONE Fight Night 17 last December.

The 29-year-old took a poorly timed strike from Rabah that affected the rest of his performance and ultimately saw him fall to a loss in the opening round. But with his motivation sky-high, he met the Algerian again two months later at ONE Fight Night 18 and scored a first-round win.

He’ll undoubtedly be out to continue his momentum and stop Carrillo’s hype train at ONE Fight Night 23, so fans should expect a firefight between two proven finishers when they face off on 5th July.

The UFC made their return to action last night, featuring a flyweight main event between top contender Matheus Nicolau and former title challenger Alex Perez.

For the full results, look no further!

Note: any point deductions will be denoted with an asterisk and explained at the bottom of the page.

***

Main card (12am GMT+1 – TNT Sports)

(#8) Alex Perez defeats (#5) Matheus Nicolau via knockout (punches – 2:16 – R2) – flyweight bout

Bogdan Guskov defeats (#11) Ryan Spann via TKO (punches – 3:16 – R2) – light heavyweight bout

(#13) Karine Silva defeats (#12) Ariane da Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – flyweight bout

Jhonata Diniz defeats Austen Lane via knockout (punches – 2:12 – R2) – heavyweight bout

David Onama defeats Jonathan Pearse via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – featherweight bout

Uros Medic defeats Tim Means via TKO (punches – 2:09 – R1) – welterweight bout

Prelims (9pm GMT+1 – TNT Sports/UFC Fight Pass)

Victor Henry defeats Rani Yahya via TKO (head kick and punches – 2:36 – R3) – bantamweight bout

Austin Hubbard defeats Michal Figlak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – lightweight bout

Don’Tale Mayes defeats Caio Machado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – heavyweight bout

Ketlen Souza defeats Marnic Mann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – strawweight bout

Chris Padilla defeats James Llontop via submission (rear-naked-choke – 4:33 – R1) – lightweight bout

Ivana Petrovic defeats Liang Na via submission (arm triangle – 1:29 – R3) – flyweight bout

Maheshate Hayisaer defeats Gabriel Benitez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) – lightweight bout

***

For more UFC content, stay tuned to Violent Money TV.

It seems Alex Pereira is on a lot of minds of late. His former nemesis ‘Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya has been speaking about him this week and, rather surprisingly, heaped praise on the Brazilian.  

The pair have shared an intense rivalry throughout their respective kickboxing and mixed  martial arts careers, with Pereira beating Adesanya three times before ‘The Last Stylebender’ finally got the edge over ‘Poatan’ in their last meeting a year ago. 

Pereira won their first meeting in the kickboxing ring by decision back in 2016 and then knocked out Adesanya in a rematch eleven months later. 

He then finished Adesanya in the fifth round at UFC 281 to claim the middleweight title  in only his sixth professional MMA bout, before Adesanya reclaimed the belt a few months later with a devastating right hook. 

Adesanya went on to lose the belt to Sean Strickland and has since been on a self imposed sabbatical from the sport. He was an interested spectator as Pereira moved up to the light heavyweight division, before winning and then defending the belt in that  division too. 

Speaking with former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson on his YouTube  channel this week, Adesanya had nothing but praise for Pereira, and insists the Brazilian brings out the best in him: 

“He’s a special fighter” said Adesanya. “He’s a special human being. What he’s done in  this game, in fighting, and for his life as well, I’ll always respect him. I’m grateful for  those moments because, for me, it taught me so much about myself and where I can  go”. 

Despite losing the first three fights in their series, Adesanya insists the fights were  closer than that record suggests: 

“First fight in China, I thought I won. These casuals don’t. These plebs don’t. I thought I  won. Even he thought I won until he got his hand raised. Second fight, I’m beating his ass  and he gets me. Again in New Your (UFC 281) I’m beating him. Rocked him, took him  down, held him down, beat him and he gets me…I just knew that I can beat this guy”. 

With Adesanya rumoured to be coming back to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the  185lb title, and Alex Pereira seemingly looking upwards toward the heavyweight division  for his next challenge, it seems the pair are out of each other’s crosshairs…for now at least.