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ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong expects a spectacular knockout when Jonathan Haggerty squares off with Chinese kickboxing star Wei Rui this Thursday.
Returning to the Lusail Sports Arena, ONE 171: Qatar will see Haggerty put his ONE bantamweight kickboxing world championship on the line against Wei, the division's top-ranked contender and a former multi-time K-1 champion.
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Haggerty and Wei are considered by many to be two of the absolute best strikers on the planet. So it should come as no surprise that the ONE head honcho expects to see fireworks fly between the two P4P greats.
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"It's truly two of the world's greatest strikers coming head to head, Wei Rui and Jonathan Haggerty," Sityodtong said at the ONE 171: Qatar press conference. "I don't think you can count anybody out. I predict a knockout."
Haggerty and the 'Demon Blade' have a combined 42 career knockouts between them. Will we see number 43 when 'The General' puts his 26 pounds of kickboxing gold on the line for the very first time?
Jonathan Haggerty determined to get back into the win column against Wei Rui
The last time we saw Jonathan Haggerty inside the Circle, he'd suffered one of the most brutal losses of his combat sports career.
'The General' was stopped just 49 seconds into his ONE 168: Denver headliner by Superlek Kiatmoo9, surrendering his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship in the process.
Now, Haggerty is determined to not only get back into the win column but also to keep the bantamweight kickboxing strap firmly wrapped around his waist.
"I feel amazing," Haggerty told the Bangkok Post. "Obviously, it's up to me now to defend this belt and I wouldn't say a lot of weight on my shoulders, but I'm really craving this win. I've never craved a win so much.
"I need to get back in the winning column, so I'm excited to get in there [and] put on a show for the fans in Qatar and everyone around the world."
ONE 171: Qatar will emanate from the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Thursday, Feb. 20. Head over to watch.onefc.com to learn more about how you can watch the event live.
