Jonathan Haggerty reveals game plan heading into Nong-O fight

On the surface, fans saw an absolute annihilation of a Thai legend when newly crowned ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion ‘The General’ Jonathan Haggerty stopped former king Nong-O Hama for the first time in ONE Championship to claim the gold.

But according to the 26-year-old Englishman, there was a lot more that went on behind the scenes to produce such an epic finish.

During the ONE Fight Night 9 post-event interviews backstage, Haggerty revealed what his game plan was heading into the fight with Nong-O. ‘The General’ said:

“The game plan was we were going to work on what he would do in the first few rounds. We were wondering whether he'll try to [come at] me or is he going to stand there and play the game?”

Catch the full interview below:

Nong-O started out slow, feeling Haggerty out, which turned out to be his downfall. The Englishman opted to start fast, bringing the fight to the Thai warrior and overwhelming him with speed and power. Haggerty said this was key:

“Unfortunately for him, he stood there and played the game. We attacked the legs, then he attacked my legs, and I just put him to sleep. And that was it.”

It was an epic performance from Haggerty, who stopped Nong-O for the first time in his ONE Championship career at the 2:40 mark of round one, in front of a pro-Thai crowd at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok last Friday night.

Where the 26-year-old goes from here as the new king of the division, we will have to wait and see. However, there will definitely be some very interesting matchups for Haggerty down the road.