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Two-sport king Jonathan Haggerty believes Nico Carrillo deserves more recognition after an explosive 2023, but he does not think the Scottish striker will have it in him to continue his run with ONE gold strapped around his waist.
‘King of the North’ went on a tear against three elite names in eight months, a run capped off by a second-round finish of former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O Hama at ONE Friday Fights 46 in December last year.
To top it off, the Deachkalek Muay Thai Academy and Sor Dechapan star now finds himself at the No.1-ranked spot, and a date with ‘The General’ seems more and more inevitable with each passing day.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Jonathan Haggerty touched on Carrillo’s meteoric rise while giving his thoughts on why none of the names the Scottish striker has beaten are in a similar league as he is.
‘The General’ said:
“He’s got to where he is because of the hard work he puts in, and you can't doubt him, you know. He's done what he's had to do, and he talks a good game, But I just feel like coming up against me, I'm different.”
Watch the full interview here:
“Next in line” – Carrillo wants a shot at Jonathan Haggerty’s gold
On his end, ‘King of the North’ has been knocking on the door of a shot at gold following his impressive knockout over Thai legend Nong-O.
Immediately after the win, before he rose to the top-ranked spot, the 25-year-old star made his intentions clear. He said:
Yeah, I’m the number one contender now. Next in line [for Jonathan Haggerty], hopefully.”
Of course, Jonathan Haggerty will first have to defend his bantamweight Muay Thai world title against Felipe Lobo in the main event of ONE Fight Night 19 on February 16.
However, once the bantamweight kingpin of the Muay Thai and kickboxing division clears the Brazilian out of his path, there seems to be only one man destined to be his contender.
ONE Fight Night 19 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.
