Jonathan Haggerty admits he took a gamble to face Superlek in 2018: "It was a little too soon"

Taking risks is part and parcel of life, and two-sport ONE world champion Jonathan Haggerty found that out the hard way when he crossed paths with Superlek Kiatmoo9 in 2018.

The Londoner went up against the ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion in October of that year after claiming two back-to-back knockouts against Isaac Araya and Keith McLachlan.

Despite riding on a positive run, 'The General' failed to impose his usual high-pressure game against the Thai, who hit everything with precision and had his rival's best weapons sorted inside the Bolton Macron Stadium.

So much so, that by the end of the second frame, the referee called a stop to the contest after Haggerty suffered a cut just above his eye, courtesy of Superlek's elbows and punches.

Looking back at the contest, Jonathan Haggerty had this to say to Mitch Chilson during a faceoff at last week's ONE Friday Fights 72:

"It was a little too soon in my career. But, you know, I usually take fights offered to me, take risks once in a while."

---

Jonathan Haggerty has gone from strength to strength in ONE Championship

The 27-year-old would go on to put pen to paper with ONE Championship just two months later, where he went on to claim the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title from Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in just his sophomore outing.

Since then, Jonathan Haggerty has competed inside the ONE Circle on nine more occasions, winning seven – including two sensational back-to-back knockouts of Nong-O Hama and Fabricio Andrade – to scoop the Muay Thai and kickboxing gold in the bantamweight division.

After successfully defending his bantamweight gold against Felipe Lobo with a third-round TKO in February this year, the Knowlesy Academy and Team Underground megastar will head to the Ball Arena in Denver to defend that same gold in a rematch against Superlek.

Their scheduled five-round world title tilt will be one of three world titles headed to ONE 168: Denver on September 6.

Follow this link to get your tickets to ONE Championship's second on-ground show in North America.