Nabil Anane credits sacrifices, rigorous camp for ONE 172 victory 

Still, the towering Thai delivered a stern message to his rival that although their first encounter was less than two years ago, he is an entirely new version of himself. 

“Yes, winning [against] Superlek means a lot to me. It means very, very much to me, because this was my dream and my first goal, and I have achieved it,” Anane said at the post-event  press conference. 

“And the title, I feel bad that it wasn't a match with a title. But what can I do? I don't know. I had a lot of sacrifices also for this fight, because Superlek was, to beat him, to fight him and win, was one of my goals. But I thought that I would have the title also.” 

Anane commanded the ring from the opening bell. While he utilized his reach well against “The Kicking Machine,” he wants it to be known that his comeuppance wasn't due to his height. 

“Superlek weighed a little bit more than I do, and I want to let everyone know because a lot of people think that if you're tall, you have the advantage,” Anane said. 

“I trained very hard for this. If being tall is the sole reason that you can win, I want to invite  
Everyone is tall enough to come and fight and become a champion.” 

The bantamweight king was adamant he had many sacrifices ahead of the marquee matchup.  

And he credits his coach, Mehdi Zatout, for pushing him in what was a star-making performance. 

“It's very difficult for me to adapt my schedule. It was very hard for me, and there were a lot of things that I needed to sacrifice to win. And I feel like I could have done better too, but I sacrificed a lot for this victory over Superlek,” Anane said