Jonathan Haggerty is the perfect embodiment and a living testament to not giving up for all of the athletes that are currently signed to the roster of ONE Championship.
That's because he climbed his way back up to the top of the combat sports world by becoming a two-sport world champion.
The promotion recently published the inspiring story of Haggerty on Instagram and how he redeemed himself after losing his first world title. ONE Championship captioned the post with:
“Resilience 🔥🏆 Will Jonathan Haggerty conquer Felipe Lobo and retain his ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title at ONE Fight Night 19 on @primevideo? @jhaggerty_”
Haggerty became a star when he defeated Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in May 2019 at ONE: For Honor and won the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title. However, his reign as the king of the division was cut short as Rodtang Jitmuangnon immediately dethroned him on his first world title defense in August 2019 at ONE: Dawn of Heroes.
‘The General’ tried to retrieve the 26-pound belt from ‘The Iron Man’ with an immediate rematch at ONE: A New Tomorrow in January 2020, but was handed a third-round TKO loss.
Despite the heartbreak, Haggerty bounced back quickly collected three straight victories over Taiki Naito, Mongkolpetch Petchyindee, and Vladimir Kuzmin to secure a world title shot against Nong-O Hama for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title in April 2023 at ONE Fight Night 9.
The Knowlesy Academy representative scored a massive upset of the Thai legend. He knocked him out in the opening round of their world championship showdown to cement his place as the division’s newest world titleholder.
Seven months later, Haggerty was pitted against Fabricio Andrade in the main event of ONE Fight Night 16 for the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title.
The 26-year-old British superstar seized the opportunity and knocked out ‘Wonder Boy’ in the second round to burst into superstardom. He joined the list of elite athletes in the world’s largest martial arts organization who won two world titles in two different sports.
Jonathan Haggerty prepares to defend his title against Felipe Lobo at ONE Fight Night 19
In the aftermath of his historic win at ONE Fight Night 16, a new challenger emerged as Andrade’s Tiger Muay Thai training partner, Felipe Lobo, confronted Haggerty in the ring while celebrating and exchanged a few heated words.
This incident brewed a rivalry among the two, and Lobo happens to be the third-ranked divisional contender. That prompted ONE Championship to officially book this fight and let them settle their differences inside the ring.
Haggerty and Lobo are set to throw hands on February 16 for the main attraction of ONE Fight Night 19, which goes down inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.