Algeria’s Muay Thai Champion Nabil Anane Praises “Big Brother” Mehdi Zatout
Algeria’s Muay Thai star Nabil Anane heaped praise on compatriot Mehdi Zatout, describing the experienced coach as his “big brother”.
Anane is finalizing his preparations for the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai world title unification bout against Thai megastar Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang in Japan.
Since losing against Superlek on his debut, the 20-year-old rising star has been in top form, scoring six consecutive wins against established opponents at ONE Championship.
With a list of impressive achievements already on his resume and the chance to be crowned as an indisputed ONE champion on the horizon, Anane attributes his success inside the ring to his coaches, mainly head coach Zatout whom he met around 10 years ago.
“Mehdi is like my big brother. When I first met him, I was like 10 years old. I was smaller than him, and now I’m very much bigger than him. He is the first one who held pads for me, and he’s like my big brother,” Anane said.
Nicknamed “Diamond Heart”, the 41-year-old is no stranger to world title fights. The now-retired former ISKA and WBC world champion has 119 professional fights and seven fights in ONE Championship, including a ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing world title bout back in late 2021.
Zatout quickly spotted Anane’s talents. The young fighter shone early on, becoming a two-time WBC champion and the youngest Muay Thai champion in the organization’s history.
Recognizing that Anane had the skill set needed to compete with the world’s best strikers, Zatout brought his younger compatriot to ONE Championship.
While Anane is proud of his meteoric rise, he realizes Zatout has been instrumental to his growth and development, and continues to follow his instructions in training and during matchups.
“Even if the arena is so loud you cannot hear anything, you can still hear your coach’s instructions,” Anane said.
“Mehdi brought me to ONE Championship. He taught me a lot of things. All those techniques, all of the stuff that I’ve done in ONE, it’s because of him,” he added.
Anane faces Superlek in a highly anticipated rematch inside the Saitama Super Arena at ONE 172, a huge event which includes five world title bouts and a historic flyweight kickboxing super-fight between Japanese icon Takeru Segawa and Thai sensation Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang kicks off at 10:00 AM Mecca on Sunday, March 23, and is available as a pay-per-view (PPV) via watch.onefc.com.
