“He's been there, done that” - Jonathan Haggerty admits it’s hard to deal with an opponent as experienced as Superlek

Jonathan Haggerty discussed the difficulty of fighting someone with the experience of Superlek.

On September 6, Haggerty was featured in the ONE 168: Denver main event against Superlek. The U.K. superstar attempted to defend his bantamweight Muay Thai world title before a picture-perfect elbow ended his reign in 49 seconds.

Haggerty talked about the defeat during a recent appearance on the 'Winners Talking Podcast.' He had this to say about Superlek's experience advantage.

"But yeah, it's also fighting a guy like Superlek's caliber. A guy with 400 fights. He knows the game. He's been there, done that. Seen every style."

Heading into ONE 168, Jonathan Haggerty was coming off an impressive run featuring wins against Nong-O, Felipe Lobo, and Fabricio Andrade (kickboxing). Despite losing against Superlek, 'The General' remains a world champion due to his ONE bantamweight kickboxing title.

Meanwhile, Superlek added Haggerty to his legendary run featuring wins against Rodtang, Takeru Segawa (kickboxing), and Kongthoranee. 'The Kicking Machine' became a two-sport world champion at ONE 168, adding the bantamweight Muay Thai crown to his flyweight kickboxing strap.

Watch Haggerty's entire appearance on the 'Winners Talking Podcast' below:

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Jonathan Haggerty and Superlek could meet again down the road

Following ONE 168, Jonathan Haggerty revealed his plans to endure an extended layoff to recover from the disappointing loss. Since then, the reigning bantamweight kickboxing world champion has changed his mind and posted this message on Instagram about his next fight:

"Contract signed! Thank you @onechampionship & @yodchatri for giving me this opportunity 🙏🏼Opponent ✅Date ✅Venue ✅"

On January 24, 2025, Superlek will defend his bantamweight Muay Thai world title for the first time at ONE 170. The Thai superstar is scheduled to face Nico Carrillo, who holds a promotional record of 4-0, all knockouts.

ONE 170 goes down inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. North American and Canadian viewers can watch the upcoming event live and for free with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

It's unclear if Haggerty's next fight is in Muay Thai or kickboxing. With that said, the U.K. superstar is arguably only one or two wins away from securing a rematch against Superlek, assuming the latter defeats Carrillo.