FREE FULL FIGHT: Jonathan Haggerty kickstarts redemption arc in thrilling world title defense over Chinese superstar Wei Rui

ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty added another feather to his cap following a heart-pounding defense of the gold versus Chinese great Wei Rui in the co-main event of ONE 171: Qatar last Thursday, Feb. 20.

Shockingly, Wei dictated the pace for most of round one, which forced 'The General' to find a breakthrough with the help of his cornermen. The United Kingdom star matched Wei's activity in the second round and slowly began to turn the momentum in his favor.

The champion and challenger continued to exchange leather, intending to put each other to sleep. However, the perfectly timed teep kick to the Tangshan Wenlu Xiaoqi Gedou representative's face late in the fourth round gave Haggerty complete control of the fight, eventually retaining the gold via unanimous decision.

Relive their heated five-round battle below, which ONE posted on YouTube:

Haggerty's victory was significant as it showed how much losing the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship to ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 in September 2024 truly mattered to him, which led to his most well-rounded outing yet in the circle.

Additionally, the 28-year-old snapped Wei's vaunted 21-fight winning streak that dates back to July 2018.

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Jonathan Haggerty gives Wei Rui his flowers

Ever the graceful winner, Jonathan Haggerty acknowledged how tough a foe Wei Rui actually was during the ONE 171-post event press conference. He said:

"I mean, the man behind it all, Christian Knowles. We were studying Wei Rui. I think the hard thing about it, was everybody was thinking I was going to go in there and destroy him and he shouldn't really be in there with me. But he was a great opponent."

Watch the entire press conference below:

The full replay of ONE 171 is available on-demand at watch.onefc.com.