Nico Carrillo Set to Claim the Interim ONE Championship Featherweight Muay Thai World Title
- MTK GYM
- Feb 13
- 3 min read
"Muay Thai Definitely Saved My Life. It put me on a different trajectory than all my friends at the time. If I was still hanging about with certain people, I often wonder where I would be or how I would've turned out." - Nico Carrillo
Rough Beginnings in Glasgow
Carrillo grew up in Scotstoun, Glasgow, a tough neighborhood with plenty of challenges. Raised by his single mother and grandmother, he often walked a fine line between staying out of trouble and falling into the very streets he was born into. Although he got into his share of mischief as a youth, his family’s discipline kept him grounded.
Sport first offered Carrillo a way out. As a boy, he loved soccer, but the pull toward combat sports grew stronger, especially Muay Thai, which he started at age 15. The first time he stepped into the gym, something clicked: the smell, the energy, and the discipline felt right. Muay Thai didn’t just give him skills ... it gave him purpose.
A Moment That Changed Everything
Yet even with martial arts shaping his path, life almost pulled him off course in a brutal way.
At 18, Carrillo found himself in a situation that could have ended his life. He was out with friends when a confrontation turned violent. After an earlier altercation with a troublemaker, the same individual reappeared, this time with an army knife. In an instant Carrillo’s world changed. What started as a night out ended in a near-fatal stabbing that left him bleeding heavily and fading in and out of consciousness on the way to the hospital.
He later described those moments vividly: every time he closed his eyes, it felt peaceful, almost like drifting off, until a friend slapped him awake, warning him to stay conscious. In that blur between life and death, Carrillo’s mind raced not with fear, but with thoughts of his fiancée and all his unfulfilled goals, dreams he wasn’t ready to leave behind.
“It was by far the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” he said. “At that point, I knew it was happening… and I knew I wasn’t ready to die.”
That night changed something fundamental in him. The pain and reflection didn’t just scare him, it recalibrated his priorities. Before, he trained and fought for success; after, he fought to honor every opportunity he’d been given. Carrillo could have walked away. Many people in his position do. But instead he leaned even harder into his discipline, his training, and the sport that had already rescued him from the streets.
Muay Thai, he says, saved his life and in turn, he gave his life to it.
The Road to the Interim Title
After rising through the amateur ranks and winning titles overseas, Carrillo quit his job as an electrician to pursue fighting full-time, a leap of faith that few manage to take.
He found success fast in ONE Championship, dazzling fans with power and explosiveness.
But even this journey wasn’t without its setbacks. A loss in his previous interim title fight forced him to rebuild in a healthier weight class, a challenge he embraced with renewed determination.
Tonight’s matchup is more than just another fight, it’s a measure of legacy. For Carrillo, this isn’t just about a belt, it’s about everything he endured to get here: the tough childhood, the brush with death, and the countless hours in the gym that followed.
If Carrillo wins tonight, it won’t just be a title, it will be vindication for his journey. For his family, his fiancée, his trainers, and everyone who believed he could rise above daunting odds.
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