Tye Ruotolo fascinated by Jonathan Haggerty’s ‘unreal’ striking: “Haggerty is just next level”

Tye Ruotolo was left stunned by Jonathan Haggerty’s performance in the ONE Fight Night 16 headliner.

Returning to Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, fight fans were treated to a champion vs. champion clash as Jonathan Haggerty stepped into the evening’s main event for a showdown with Fabricio Andrade. The winner, of course, leaves the venue with the vacant bantamweight kickboxing world title.

In the end, Haggerty would leave the Mecca of Muay Thai with not one, but two championship belts after scoring a vicious second-round knockout of Andrade.

Ruotolo, who stepped into the ring earlier in the evening to deliver a history-making performance, shared his take on the battle between Haggerty and Andrade whilst speaking with the South China Morning Post

“[It was] so gnarly, you know, Haggerty is just next level, you know,” Ruotolo said. “I was super impressed by his striking. You know, so unreal and Andrade is so tough too. It's unbelievable. You know to put him down like that. A lot of respect to both guys. It’s unreal.”

Before Jonathan Haggerty added another 26 pounds of gold to his resume, Tye Ruotolo made his highly anticipated return in the co-main event, squaring off with Dagestani wrestling standout Magomed Abdulkadirov for the inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world championship.

After 10 minutes of intense action, it was Tye Ruotolo who had his hand raised, claiming the victory and the title. He now joins his brother, current ONE lightweight submission grappling titleholder Kade Ruotolo, at the top of the BJJ mountain under the ONE Championship banner.

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.