Jonathan Haggerty envisioned wearing ONE gold around his waist again

For newly crowned ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion ‘The General’ Jonathan Haggerty, the journey back to the top was a long and arduous one. But after his loss to Rodtang in 2019 – the last time he wore ONE gold around his waist – the 26-year-old Englishman knew he would someday be king again.

Haggerty finally reached that goal this past Friday night in front of a raucous crowd at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Speaking to Mitch Chilson in his post-fight interview inside the ONE Championship ring, Haggerty recalled the first time he captured the belt years ago, and said he knew this day would come.

‘The General’ said:

“To beat Nong-O, that is a legend, growing up, watching him since a young age, I just realized it's been written all over again, Sam-A all over again. I was destined for this, and I worked so, so hard.”

Haggerty won the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title in just his second fight for the promotion in 2019, besting legendary Thai fighter Sam-A Gaiyanghadao by unanimous decision. However, he surrendered the world title to now-reigning king Rodtang ‘The Iron Man’ Jitmuangnon in his first defense.

‘The General’ would go on to lose badly to Rodtang in a rematch, and since then, he’s been on the comeback trail.

Along the way, Haggerty realized that he needed to move up a weight class in order to regain his stature. He decided to leave flyweight behind and make a beeline for the bantamweight belt.

He eventually took on the iconic Nong-O Hama in front of a screaming Thai crowd on Friday, and the rest is history. Haggerty is $100,000 richer after winning an epic bonus and is a world champion once more.