Jonathan Haggerty may be a staple of ONE Championship's striking divisions at this stage but he's still learning valuable lessons.
Even the best fighters in the world can improve and sometimes, that means facing difficult lessons head on in order to come back even stronger.
This was the case for 'The General' who was walking into the biggest fight of his career to date at ONE 168. His ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship was on the line at the Ball Arena in Denver as he sought revenge over Superlek Kiatmoo9.
Haggerty has admitted to being too eager at the start of the fight which led to him pressing forward, making a mistake, and being stopped in the first round. Speaking about this error during a recent appearance on the Sky Sports MMA Club Podcast, he explained what he learned at the moment.
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The Brit has now learned a lot about himself regarding his preparations and mentality and what he needs to do differently going forward:
"Not to rush in and be aware of the elbows. Nah, just take your time, don't let the moment get to you. Don't get too eager to follow the game plan. That's it."
Jonathan Haggerty was too aggressive at ONE 168
There's a reason that high-level fights of any kind can often start slow, but this wasn't the case for Jonathan Haggerty at ONE 168.
A feeling-out process is usually in place for fighters to make reads and get a grasp on their opponent's speed, timing, and distance.
Haggerty looked to nullify this against Superlek by exploding into range after a tell of his which allowed his opponent to set him up for the perfect counter.
One swift strike from the challenger ended the fight but the former champion will go back to the drawing board to return as a new and improved version of himself.