"He might have the edge this time" - Jonathan Haggerty sees Nabil Anane stunning Superlek in redo at ONE 172

Jonathan Haggerty firmly believes Nabil Anane has what it takes to avenge his loss to Superlek Kiatmoo9 when they run it back at ONE 172 inside the Saitama Super Arena.

The Thai-Algerian upstart heads into his sequel against the pound-for-pound great in the form of his life. Anane racked up five successive victories before taking out Scotsman Nico Carrillo in round one at ONE 170 to gain recognition as the ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion.

Before that hellish run, though, he kicked things off on martial arts' biggest stage with a first-round knockout loss at the hands of 'The Kicking Machine.'

Though he was outclassed in that scrap in June 2023, Jonathan Haggerty reckons Anane's improved Muay Thai arsenal could spell danger for the reigning two-division, two-sport king when they unify their gold on Sunday, March 23.

Speaking to the Bangkok Post, 'The General' offered:

"I'm excited to see him versus Superlek and see how that plays out because it's gonna be a lot different than the first fight. And he might have the edge this time. I feel like he might get the win against Superlek."

Watch the full interview here:

Of course, Anane still has plenty of work to do.

Superlek, 29, will arrive in "The Land of the Rising Sun" with 11 successive victories. His stellar run doesn't look like it'll be about to end anytime soon.

But Anane will be out to prove that theory wrong come ONE 172, which will be available to fight fans at watch.onefc.com.

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Jonathan Haggerty looks to ace his bantamweight kickboxing title defense at ONE 171

Before the two striking titans go toe-to-toe in Japan, another exciting war between stand-up specialists takes place in the co-main event of ONE 171: Qatar, when Jonathan Haggerty defends his ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title against top-ranked contender 'Demon Blade' Wei Rui.

The Knowlesy Academy and Team Underground star is fired up to get back to winning ways after falling short to the aforementioned Superlek at ONE 168: Denver, where he surrendered his bantamweight Muay Thai crown.

In the opposite corner, Wei Rui looks to maintain his perfect streak inside the Circle after taking home a unanimous decision win over former divisional king Hiroki Akimoto in his debut at ONE Fight Night 22 last year.

ONE 171: Qatar will be available for free at watch.onefc.com.