United Kingdom Star Jonathan Haggerty Extending His Reach
Home for Jonathan Haggerty is in London. But he is a wanted man all over the world.
Haggerty knocked out Fabricio Andrade at ONE Fight Night 16 just over a week ago to become the new ONE bantamweight kickboxing champion. That title pairs nicely with his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai championship, and each belt has only increased his appetite for gold.
“I want Andrade’s MMA belt,” said Haggerty. “I want to be ONE’s MMA bantamweight champion.”
Courtesy ONE Championship
Based on their first encounter, there is significant reason to believe Haggerty will follow through on that objective. His exceptional performance at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok on November 4 ended with an explosive right hand in the second round that ended Andrade’s night–and provided even more fuel to the Haggerty hype train.
“When I caught him with that right hand, I thought he was going to try to get up, which would have been even more dangerous for him,” said Haggerty. “Then the ref waved it off, and I felt like it was mission complete. It’s exactly what I said was going to happen.”
A budding star in combat sports, the 26-year-old Haggerty currently has a lot of moving pieces in his ongoing success. After he defeated Andrade for the vacant kickboxing title, new challengers instantly began to emerge. Fighter Alaverdi Ramazanov and his coach Mehdi Zatout went into business for themselves, making an unscripted play at a title shot–circumventing security to create a showdown against Haggerty–that cost the pair a six-month suspension from ONE events.
“Everyone is on me, but I take all that as a compliment,” said Haggerty. “I hope they’re careful what they wish for. I’m going to take them out one by one.”
A fight against Felipe lobo, who was in Andrade’s corner, also appears to be in his future. The potential also exists for a potential for a massive Wembley Stadium bout against Tawanchai PK Saenchai. Hiroki Akimoto wants a kickboxing title shot in Japan.
With a plethora of challengers eying him, Haggerty was asked if he was still able to celebrate the victory against Andrade in Bangkok, making him ONE’s newest two-sport champion.
“Of course, I did,” said Haggerty. “I went to 7-11, and I got a ham-and-cheese toastie and a Coke. Nothing too major, but it was perfect.”
Courtesy ONE Championship
Haggerty credits a great deal of his success to his coaching staff, particularly head coach Christian Knowles.
“In my opinion, Christian Knowles is the greatest coach in the world,” said Haggerty. “He’s like a second dad to me. Without him, there’s no me. He came out to Thailand to train me for the last four months, which I’m very thankful for, and we have an unbreakable bond. We are really unstoppable at the moment.”
A vicious striker with elite footwork, Haggerty is well aware he has holes in his inexperienced MMA game, particularly with his takedown defense. But a combination of fearlessness, youth, and ambition are powering him through those training sessions necessary to defeat Andrade again, this time for the ONE MMA bantamweight title.
“If they offer that fight within the next 8-12 weeks, I’ll put pen to paper–and I will defeat Andrade for the MMA belt,” said Haggerty. “I’m not just a kickboxer. And I’m working on my takedown defense.
“For those doubting me, I’ll keep proving you wrong.”
Haggerty’s next bout will most likely be a defense of his Muay Thai title. As for when that could happen, he offered a clue.
“My next fight will be sooner than you think,” said Haggerty. “I don’t feel like you’re a champion until you defend your belt, so the first thing to do is defend the Muay Thai belt.”
