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Jonathan Haggerty could barely believe the opportunity that fell right through his door when he was offered the Nong-O Hama fight last year.
Nevertheless, the Englishman, who only debuted in the division just a match prior - against Vladimir Kuzmin in November 2022 - was game to go up against the Thai striking icon for his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title in the main event of ONE Fight Night 9.
"When they threw that fight to me, they told me, you're going to fight for the Muay Thai bantamweight world title, I was buzzing," Jonathan Haggerty said in a recent clip uploaded on his YouTube channel.
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It wasn't just adrenaline and excitement per the Knowlesy Academy and Team Underground representative, though, as he continued:
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"I was a little bit nervous for this one because Nong-O was beating everyone. Ten fights undefeated, knocked everybody out."
Watch the full interview here:
While he concedes that he was a bag of mixed emotions heading into his monumental showdown against the Evolve MMA fighter, his performance was a clear sign of his maturity and ability to stay focused on the task at hand.
The 27-year-old took the fight to the veteran from the opening seconds of the tie, eventually seeing off the stand-up specialist at the 2:40 mark of the first round.
At the same time, he smashed Nong-O's perfect 10-0 promotional slate and bagged a US$100,000 performance bonus for his fine display.
Jonathan Haggerty aims to exact revenge vs Superlek in Denver
The two-sport king only has one thing on his mind when he runs it back against Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 168: Denver – revenge.
After falling to the ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion in a Muay Thai bout outside of ONE Championship in 2018, the Londoner is eager to level the scores and defend his bantamweight Muay Thai crown against arguably the toughest test of his career.
Speaking to Sky Sports previously, Jonathan Haggerty offered:
"Now's the time for revenge. I'm glad it's come, we're both at our peak, and we're both in the best organization in the world."
Follow this link to purchase tickets for ONE 168: Denver. The promotion's hotly-anticipated return to North America unfolds inside the Ball Arena live in U.S. primetime on September 6.
