“I didn’t realize how much of a mad fight it was” - Jonathan Haggerty looks back on "brutal" fight with Felipe Lobo

ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Jonathan Haggerty successfully defended his world title back in February against Brazilian challenger Felipe Lobo. It was a contest that he describes as brutally competitive.

The 27-year-old Orpington, England, native survived a spirited challenge from the 'Demolition Man' to come up with a third-round TKO victory at ONE Fight Night 19 on Feb. 16 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Haggerty was rocked in the opening round by Lobo, who connected on a solid uppercut that had the reigning champion sitting on the ropes and given the count after.

However, he was able to bounce back from it and came back with added bounce in the next two rounds, which he capped by sending Lobo to the canvas with 45 seconds remaining in the third round and unable to continue from there.

In an interview on the Sky Sports MMA Club podcast, Jonathan Haggerty looked back at the Lobo fight with a lot of amazement and pride. He shared:

"I had to sit down and watch it back, because I didn't realize how much of a mad fight it was. When I watched it back, I was like, gosh, it was pretty brutal. When I came out, it was like fractured knuckles, and I was just like, wow."

Jonathan Haggery, who is also the bantamweight kickboxing world champion, is currently gearing up to defend the Muay Thai gold against Superlek Kiatmoo9 in an all-champion clash at ONE 168 in Denver, Colorado, on Sept. 6.

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Jonathan Haggerty starts buildup for title defense at ONE 168

British striker Jonathan Haggerty has started his preparation for his scheduled defense of the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE 168.

'The General' will go up against ONE flyweight kickboxing king Superlek Kiatmoo9 in all-champion title clash at the event, which will mark ONE Championship's second live on-ground event in the United States.

Jonathan Haggerty, who was present at ONE 167 in Thailand last week, marked the start of his camp by sharing it in an Instagram post, which he captioned with:

"It's been amazing watching the buildup to @onechampionship 167 out here in Thailand. Now it's time to head to [Koh] [S]amui and start a long hard fight camp for my upcoming fight in Denver Colorado"

ONE 168 will be the second defense of Haggerty of the bantamweight gold, which he seized from former champion Nong-O Hama in April last year.