Jonathan Haggerty surprised by how quickly he took out Nong-O

Jonathan Haggerty shocked the world on Friday night, scoring a vicious first-round knockout against arguably one of the greatest Muay Thai strikers of all time, Nong-O Hama.

Headlining ONE Fight Night 9 at the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, ‘The General’ became a two-time ONE world champion, scoring three quick knockdowns against the Thai superstar, the last of which Nong-O unconcious. Following his historic victory, Jonathan Haggerty spoke with the South China Morning Post, saying:

“I wouldn’t say it wasn’t easy, but it was. But I’m sure he had a lot left in the tank if he was able to stand on his feet.”

Prior to his highlight-reel-worthy knockout of Nong-O, Jonathan Haggerty reigned as the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion before surrendering the title to ‘The Iron Man’ Rodtang Jitmuangnon. With ‘The General’ capturing bantamweight gold, we could potentially see a long-awaited trilogy bout between the two with Haggerty’s newly-won world title up for grabs.

However, if things go according to plan, ‘The General’ will headline ONE Championship’s debut in the United Kingdom. In a previous interview, Jonathan Haggerty revealed that should he leave Bangkok with the ONE world title, his top priority would be an all-British showdown with Liam Harrison. ‘The Hitman’ is still recovering from a knee surgery that he underwent earlier this year. Slated for a late summer 2023 return to action, the timeline could line up perfectly for Haggerty.

As for the former titleholder, Nong-O finds himself in an unfamiliar position under the ONE Championship banner. An immediate rematch is possible, but given the emphatic nature of Haggerty’s win, that doesn’t seem likely. Could we potentially see Nong-O drop down to flyweight for a superfight with Rodtang? Perhaps the Muay Thai icon will try his hand at kickboxing inside the Circle. Only time will tell.