“Everyone wants a bit” – Jonathan Haggerty says he’s no longer surprised when a new fighter calls him out

ONE bantamweight Muay Thai and kickbxoing world champion Jonathan Haggerty

On February 16 at ONE Fight Night 19, two-sport ONE world champion Jonathan Haggerty will look to defend one of his thrones - the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title. Challenging him for the 26-pound golden strap will be former divisional world title challenger Felipe 'Demolition Man' Lobo.

It has been a long road to becoming a two-sport king for Haggerty, who lost his ONE flyweight Muay Thai belt and failed to regain it in a rematch back in 2019 and 2020 respectively. After the back-to-back losses, 'The General' rose like a phoenix and put together a six-fight winning streak that saw him win his division's Muay Thai and kickboxing world titles with two straight KO wins.

With his tremendous success comes a slew of haters and challengers calling Jonathan Haggerty out. Speaking with the South China Morning Post, the two-sport king addressed the call-outs he has been receiving:

“Not fussed at all, you know. I’m used to this. When you're the best, when you're at the top of the food chain, everyone wants a bit.”

Watch the full interview here:

Jonathan Haggerty describes what it's like to bring his fight camp to Thailand

In preparation for his world title defense, Jonathan Haggerty decided to move his fight camp from England to Thailand to focus on the nuances of the Art of Eight Limbs in the country it originated from. In an interview with Thai influencer Mike Yu on YouTube, the two-sport world champion revealed what's it like to train full-time in the beautiful tropical country:

"[My favorite part about Thailand] is just being able to jump on my motorbike in the morning, going to get a coffee, being free, going to training, that’s it really. Simple pleasures. I’ve got no one to answer to until my trainer rings me up and says, ‘We’ve got a camp, we got to fight this person’ and it's like, ‘Oh, back to work."

Training and living in a tropical country beside a beach allows one to skirt the stresses of the bustling cities and just focus on training. For someone preparing for a world title fight, this change of scenery is certainly valuable.