The fantastic performance that Jonathan Haggerty gave at ONE Fight Night 16 in November was the crowning achievement of his calendar year 2023.
The British fighter was riding high on confidence after he had previously won the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship with a shocking victory over Nong-O Hama.
The main event of ONE Fight Night 16 had him competing against Fabricio Andrade for the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world championship. This was his second fight of the year, and it was against another world champion than he had previously faced.
In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Jonathan Haggerty reflected on the buildup to that fight. The two men had been going back and forth with one another right up until the fight night, and Haggerty was asked about his thoughts on the conflict.
In light of the fact that he got the last word in with his knockout of “Wonder Boy” in the second round, the two-sport champion is relieved to have put that drama behind him so that he may move on to better things.
On behalf of ONE Championship, “The General” stated:
It is clear that there was a mental component to the conflict with Andrade, as we bounced back and forth between the two of us. Even though I’m not really into any of that, he managed to drag me into it, and he ended up paying the price for it.
Jonathan Haggerty has avoided the same scenario with Felipe Lobo
The subsequent circumstances that transpired following Jonathan Haggerty’s victory at ONE Fight Night 16 have already prepared him to face his next opponent.
In the presence of Felipe Lobo, who was fighting for Andrade, the two men engaged in a heated conversation that very certainly would have resulted in a similar verbal conflict prior to their eventual encounter at ONE Fight Night 19.
On the contrary, as Haggerty has mentioned, it is not something that concerns him all that much, and as a result, the dispute that he has with Lobo has been mostly put aside during his training camp schedule.
When he defends his Muay Thai title for the first time on February 16, the champion will once again try to ensure that his performance is the one that does all the talking.
In the United States, during primetime, ONE Fight Night 19 will be broadcast live and free of charge to viewers in North America who have an active subscription to Prime Video.
