British striker Jonathan Haggerty worked on his head kicks, knowing fully that they would play a key role in beating Fabricio Andrade in their recent match.
‘The General’ took on and knocked out ‘Wonder Boy’ in their all-champion superfight for the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title at ONE Fight Night 16 on Prime Video on November 3 in Bangkok.
The 30-year-old Haggerty, who now holds both the bantamweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world titles, set the victory up by connecting on a head kick midway into the second frame.
Sensing he already had bantamweight mixed martial arts king Andrade reeling from the kick, the Knowles Academy standout moved in for the finish, uncorking a slew of strikes until he dropped the Brazilian star at the 1:57 mark of the round. The contest was stopped thereafter.
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In an interview with the South China Morning Post after his latest title conquest, Jonathan Haggerty shared that during the fight he made sure to throw in head kicks in his attacks and he was happy that the tack worked, saying:
“If you see the clips on ONE Championship’s Instagram, you see me training the head kicks. I missed him a few times, but I thought ‘Okay, I'll get him the next time.’ Missed him again. And on the third one, third time lucky, caught him on the top of the head.”
Watch the interview below:
The win was Jonathan Haggerty’s second straight championship-clinching win after his first-round KO of Thai legend Nong-O Hama in April to seize the Muay Thai gold.
He said he is not done in his title-conquering ways, eyeing to also get his hands on the bantamweight MMA world title that Andrade holds.
Jonathan Haggerty has actually won three ONE world titles already, having once held the flyweight Muay Thai gold before losing it in 2019.
The replay of ONE Fight Night 16 is available anytime on demand for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.