Martin Nguyen says ‘pure striker’ Jonathan Haggerty has the advantage over Fabricio Andrade in kickboxing

Former two-division ONE world champion Martin Nguyen thinks bantamweight Muay Thai king Jonathan Haggerty has the advantage over MMA titleholder Fabricio Andrade when they collide for the vacant kickboxing gold in the division next month.

‘The General’ and ‘Wonder Boy’ will headline ONE Fight Night 16 on Prime Video on November 3 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. Both are gunning to annex the kickboxing world title, in addition to the belts they already have respectively.

Asked by onefc.com for his take on the marquee all-champion title clash, Martin Nguyen said since the contest will be played under kickboxing rules, it is understandably logical to call it in favor of a pure striker like Jonathan Haggerty.

‘The Situ-Asian’ said:

“This is a kickboxing fight. Everyone would think Haggerty would have somewhat of an advantage, and on paper, you would think, yeah, 100 percent.”

Martin Nguyen, however, cautioned not to rule out Fabricio Andrade outright in the contest, considering that the Brazilian built extensive experience competing in the striking arts of kickboxing and Muay Thai before focusing on MMA under the ONE Championship banner.

British striker Jonathan Haggerty was last in action back in April, when he seized the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title from longtime divisional king Nong-O Hama. He did it in impressive and explosive fashion, knocking out the Thai superstar in the opening round of the title showdown.

The same goes for Fabricio Andrade, who is coming off his own title conquest in February. There he claimed the vacant ONE bantamweight MMA world title belt by stopping former champion John Lineker by technical knockout (corner stoppage) in the fourth round.

Meanwhile, Martin Nguyen, the No. 3 contender in the featherweight MMA division, swung back to the win column in February this year over Brazilian Leonardo Casotti by unanimous decision. He is looking to return to action before the year ends.

ONE Fight Night 16 will air live in US primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.