“Trilogy would be a gift to the world” - Fans clamor for blockbuster trilogy bout between Rodtang and Jonathan Haggerty

The rivalry between ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and ONE bantamweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty has resurfaced three years since they last fought.

ONE Championship reignited this through a recent Instagram post where they posted the clip of Rodtang evading Haggerty’s sweep attempt by jumping after his kick attempt was caught. They captioned the video with:

“Elevating the game 📈 Can Rodtang defeat Takeru at ONE 165 on January 28? @rodtang_jimungnon”

Although the post was intended to see a preview of what Rodtang could bring against his upcoming opponent Takeru Segawa in their five-round flyweight kickboxing super fight on January 28, 2024, in the main event of ONE 165, fans couldn’t help but throw the idea of having a third meeting between ‘The Iron Man’ and ‘The General.’

Platform users @steeze.god, @jason_a_palmer, @jmoya_fit, @beckyjo_12, @bobcanfield, and @legendofeden justified their respective points of why they wanted to see a third installment among the two superstars as they commented:

“best Muay Thai fight I’ve ever seen, trilogy would be a gift to the world 🔥”

“The first two fights were 🔥, Haggerty can’t let that knockout go without a rematch, and EVERYBODY wants to see it.”

“Why not is the question, haggerty has gotten much better, i still got rodtang tho..”

“1. they are most entertaining fighters in One 2. i will travel anywhere in world to see this 3. Haggerty has upped his game”

“we all want to see RODTANG VS HAGGERTY - WORLD WAR 3”

“1) Both fighters have evolved significantly. 2) The fights are always bangers. 3) It’s the fight the fans want”

Screenshot of fans' comments

Rodtang and Haggerty fought twice in 2019 and 2020. Rodtang won the first one by close decision, and the second by KO.

Rodtang and Haggerty first crossed paths in August 2019 at ONE: Dawn of Heroes, where the former scored a close decision win to dethrone the latter and become the newest king of the flyweight division in Muay Thai.

Then, five months later, in January 2020 at ONE: A New Tomorrow, the two fought again in a world championship rematch, but Rodtang made sure to leave no doubt by finishing Haggerty in the third round via TKO stoppage.

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Rodtang and Jonathan Haggerty both became successful in their careers after their first two fights

Since those two epic showdowns, Rodtang and Haggerty have experienced success in their respective campaigns under the world’s largest martial arts organization, with Rodtang successfully defending his world championship multiple times and even fighting Demetrious Johnson in a special-rules super-fight.

On the other hand, the British superstar became a two-sport world champion by beating Nong-O Hama in April 2023 at ONE Fight Night 9 via first-round knockout and stopping Fabricio Andrade in the third round of their world title fight in November 2023 at ONE Fight Night 16.