Jonathan Haggerty not completely underestimating Fabricio Andrade challenge: “He’s got the dog in him”

Jonathan Haggerty and Fabricio Andrade have been taking shots at each other for more than a month now, but that doesn’t mean the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion is completely discounting his opponent.

Haggerty will take on Andrade, the reigning ONE bantamweight MMA world champion, in a champion vs. champion super fight at ONE Fight Night 16 this Friday, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

The two world champions will collide for the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title in the stacked Bangkok card.

Ahead of his history-defining fight, Haggerty told ONE Championship in an interview that he’s already loving the prospect of trading leather with someone who’s as aggressive as him.

Andrade is a pure striker by heart and will throw shots with reckless abandon if he wants to in a fight.

Haggerty said:

“He comes to fight, he’s got the dog in him, and he’s got the creativity and determination to win or slug it out. I feel like, obviously, he’s not been doing stand-up fighting for five years, so that might be a little bit of a disadvantage for him.”

Andrade has been tearing it up in MMA with a perfect 6-0 record (1 no-contest) in ONE Championship and four knockout wins.

Although he’s at home in the multi-faceted sport, the Brazilian superstar started his career in kickboxing and Muay Thai and has a combined record of 40-3 across the two disciplines.

Haggerty, meanwhile, is one of the most creative and powerful strikers in ONE Championship’s hallowed Muay Thai roster.

The British star is already a two-division world champion, and the two wins he took to achieve that feat were nothing short of iconic.

‘The General’ first grabbed the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title when he beat the legendary Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in May 2019.

After relinquishing the gold to current ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Haggerty moved up a division and dethroned another legend in Nong-O Hama for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE Fight Night 9.

ONE Fight Night 16 is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.