Jonathan Haggerty shares initial thoughts on Walter Goncalves vs. Superlek matchup

While Jonathan Haggerty was unfortunately forced to pull out of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix, he is still able to compete as an alternate in the tournament and has some unique insight into some of the other fights.

Initially, Haggerty was set to face Brazilian fighter Walter Goncalves. Instead, in the opening round of this Grand Prix, Goncalves earned an impressive knockout win in just 35 seconds against Josue Cruz, who filled in for Haggerty.

Superlek Kiatmoo9, meanwhile, defeated Taiki Naito via unanimous decision, thus setting up the Goncalves vs. Superlek matchup. 'The General' Haggerty recently offered his take on the Brazilian facing the Thai fighter.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Haggerty said:

“Do you know what? I am giving Walter a chance in that one. I wasn’t too impressed with his last performance when [Josue Cruz] stepped in. It was a bit of a shame. I feel like the other guy [crumbled under the pressure], but Walter is going to train as hard as he can."

Many experts are predicting a final match featuring Superlek vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon. Stamp Fairtex, for example, predicted that Rodtang will defeat Savvas Michael and Superlek will defeat Goncalves.

However, Haggerty has offered a different assessment.

“He’s tricky. Superlek struggled with Taiki Naito for the first few minutes. And if you see what I did to Naito, I absolutely obliterated him. Superlek struggled a little bit with his style, so he might struggle with Walter. So everybody has a chance.”

The ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix fights will continue at ONE 160 and ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II.

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Jonathan Haggerty and the Muay Thai tournamnet

Haggerty, due to an undisclosed illness, was forced to pull out of his first-round fight. However, he has the opportunity to compete as an alternate if another fighter is unable to compete or continue in this tournament.

First, though, he must qualify by defeating Iranian-Malaysian striker Amir Naseri.

Walter Goncalves and Superlek Kiatmoo9 will face off at ONE 160 on August 26, while Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Savvas Michael will meet at ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II later that evening at US primetime. The latter event will also feature Jonathan Haggerty vs. Amir Naseri.

The winner of these matches will face off later this year in the tournament final. If either of the winners drops out due to injury, then Jonathan Haggerty will have an opportunity to step in if he defeats Naseri.

On Instagram, 'The General' Jonathan Haggerty said:

"All the hard work and dedication is now starting to pay off."