Hiroki Akimoto shares how he’ll beat Jonathan Haggerty after watching Fabricio Andrade: “I’ll fight with more pace and speed”

Japanese kickboxer Hiroki Akimoto caught the recent fight of double ONE world champion Jonathan Haggerty and said he got some key takeaways from it that he could use when he gets the chance to battle the British fighter.

‘The General’ Haggerty became a two-sport ONE world champion after defeating bantamweight mixed martial arts king Fabricio Andrade in their all-champion clash for the vacant kickboxing belt in the bantamweight class at ONE Fight Night 16 on Prime Video on November 3 in Bangkok.

He won by second-round knockout to add the kickboxing belt to the Muay Thai gold already in his possession, thrusting him to rarefied air as a concurrent world champion in two sports.

Giving his take on the showdown in an interview with the South China Morning Post, Hiroki Akimoto, who is the former ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion, shared the result was not all surprising but underscored that the fight lacked the speed he was expecting from both fighters. It is something he looks to tap on when he collides with Haggerty.

The 31-year-old Evolve MMA standout said:

“The result was what I more or less expected. If the fight was only striking, Haggerty was always the favorite. However, I expected a more speedy fight, given that it was a bantamweight fight. I was disappointed by that, and I’ll fight with more pace and speed if I fight Haggerty.”

Watch the interview of Hiroki Akimoto below:

Hiroki Akimoto has not fought since losing his world title in November 2022 to Petchtanong Petchfergus by split decision. It came just eight months after ascending to the top of the division with a unanimous decision victory over former world champion Capitan Petchyindee.

Despite not competing of late, he remains as the No. 1 contender in the division and has expressed his readiness to take on the new champion when offered the fight.

The replay of ONE Fight Night 16 is available anytime on demand for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.