“I went out to Denver a month before” - Jonathan Haggerty says he got in the best shape of his life for Superlek showdown

Jonathan Haggerty spent a month in The Mile High City ahead of his showdown with Superlek Kiatmoo9.

Riding into ONE 168: Denver as a two-sport ONE world champion, 'The General' was determined to bag perhaps the biggest win of his career while putting his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship on the line against 'The Kicking Machine.'

Unfortunately, things didn't go Haggerty's way.

49 seconds into their scrap, Superlek caught the Brit with a slick counter elbow that immediately sent Haggerty crashing to the canvas and unable to continue. The win not only brought an end to Haggerty's six-fight win streak, but it also streaked him of his Muay Thai title — not to mention his champ-champ status.

Looking back on the bout during a recent interview with ONE, Haggerty revealed that he'd spent a month training in Denver and felt like he was in the best shape of his life ahead of fight night.

“I felt amazing in the lead-up, I went out to Denver a month before and spent a lot of time, effort, money on this fight camp to get everything perfect. Everything was, too.”

Haggerty still believes that if the fight had gone longer, he would have come out on top. Perhaps he'll get another crack at 'The Kicking Machine' down the line. But first, 'The General' will be tasked with defending his remaining 26 pounds of gold.

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Jonathan Haggerty puts his kickboxing gold on the line at ONE 171 in Qatar

On Thursday, February 20, ONE Championship will head back to Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar for a loaded ONE 171 card.

In the main event of the evening, Jonathan Haggerty will defend his ONE bantamweight kickboxing world championship against the division's top-ranked contender, Wei Rui.

It will be Haggerty's first time defending the belt since capturing it with a spectacular second-round knockout of Fabricio Andrade at ONE Fight Night 16.

Wei earned his opportunity to challenge Haggerty for the kickboxing crown with a unanimous decision victory over former ONE world titleholder Hiroki Akimoto at ONE Fight Night 22 in May.

ONE 171 will emanate from the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Thursday, February 20. Early bird tickets are now available via ONE Championship’s official website.