Jonathan Haggerty recalls second-guessing his game plan against Rodtang

Jonathan Haggerty wanted to give fans a show during his back-to-back wars with ‘The Iron Man’ Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

‘The General’ came up short against the Muay Thai legend in the span of five months, surrendering his ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title in the process.

In an interview with Heatrick Muay Thai Performance, Haggerty revealed that he had a very clear game plan going into the contests, but once inside the circle, ‘The General’ put more focus on giving the fans a show than following a game plan:

“Before the fight, I’m always switched on 100 percent. But you know, there’s little things when I was in the last fight with Rodtang, I was scoring and scoring, and I was grabbing him,” Haggerty revealed. “I just wanted to score and clinch, but when I was in there, I was thinking to myself, ‘People don’t want to see this. Why are you grabbing him? Don’t grab him, don’t look scared.’ Don’t care about that. Don’t care about what people think.”

Thus far, the losses against Rodtang are the only blemishes in Jonathan Haggerty’s ONE Championship career.

Like a true champion, ‘The General’ bounced back, earning three straight victories over Taiki Naito, Mongkolpetch Petchyindee, and Vladimir Kuzmin. Those victories have secured him another ONE world title opportunity, but it won’t be a trilogy bout with Rodtang.

Instead, Haggerty will challenge reigning ONE bantamweight Muay Thai titleholder Nong-O Hama. The pair will headline ONE Fight Night 9 on Prime Video on April 21, when the promotion returns to the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

Catch the full interview below:

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Jonathan Haggerty believes his youth will be a key component to defeating Nong-O

When Jonathan Haggerty steps into the ring for a main event showdown with Nong-O Hama, ‘The General’ believes his youth will play a big role in handing the Thai warrior his first ONE Championship loss:

“I really do think my footwork and my style will be a real challenge for Nong-O [Hama]. My youth, my fitness, and the way I’m going to feel now at bantamweight, the more confident I’m going to be. I’m going to be fit. So yeah, I just feel like my footwork and my youth will be a challenge for Nong-O.”

Jonathan Haggerty, 26, is 10 years younger than his ONE Fight Night 9 opponent, but with the age gap comes an experience gap. ‘The General’ currently has 24 career fights to his credit, while Nong-O has long-eclipsed 300 career fights with an incredible 265 victories.

In fact, Nong-O has more victories under the ONE banner than ‘The General’ has fights. That could very well make the difference on April 21.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch the event live and for free in U.S. primetime.