Jonathan Haggerty on decision to pursue Rodtang fight in 2019: "I wanted to be at the top as soon as possible"

Jonathan Haggerty has proven time and time again that he can rise to the occasion and when this doesn't go his way, he learns and comes back stronger.

'The General' isn't afraid to put himself in the firing line because he knows that no matter what happens, he'll be better for it.

This was shown from a very early stage in his career with ONE Championship where the British upstart made an immediate impact.

After dethroning the legendary Sam-A Gaiyanghadao to become the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion in just his second fight, Haggerty's ambition didn't end there.

He wanted the biggest and baddest test available and that meant sharing the ring with the Thai superstar Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

Haggerty and 'The Iron Man' put on two classic fights and though he lost both encounters, the Brit doesn't look back on these losses with regret in pursuing these fights.

Jonathan Haggerty spoke about this during a recent appearance on the Winners Talking Podcast where he said that these bouts were an example of his ambition:

"So I thought if I take the hardest fights that's how I'm going to learn. I don't want to keep going up the ladder like this [slowly]. I want to jump the ladder. I wanted to be at the top as soon as possible."

Watch the full podcast interview below:

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Jonathan Haggerty has always shot for the top spot

That same drive to be the best was seen from Jonathan Haggerty when he made the move up to bantamweight.

Just like his introduction to the promotion, after winning one fight in his new weight class, he went straight to the world champion and shocked the world by dethroning Nong-O Hama last year.

After suffering a difficult loss last time out at ONE 168: Denver, Haggerty is on the comeback trail but you can be sure that it won't be long before he's back in the mix at the very top.