Jonathan Haggerty’s core gets pounded for strength training ahead of world title matchup with Nong-O Hama

Former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Jonathan Haggerty is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to his preparations for Nong-O Hama at ONE Fight Night 9. 'The General' has moved up to bantamweight to challenge the division's long-reigning king on April 21st.

With his conditioning workout, Jonathan Haggerty is going old school with traditional hardening exercises. Simply put, he absorbs high-impact strikes to parts of his body to increase endurance.

In a video released by ONE Championship, we saw the fighting Englishman absorb heavy blows from a medicine ball to his abdomen. It's not for the faint of heart:

"Got guts? Jonathan Haggerty challenges ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama on April 21 at ONE Fight Night 9 on Prime Video! 👊 @jhaggerty_"

Muay Thai is known for having the toughest, most durable fighters in all of combat sports. Muay Thai athletes absorb damage like crash-test dummies and keep moving forward like a locomotive. Part of their durability is their brutal conditioning exercises. What Jonathan Haggerty is doing to his abdomen here is nothing new in Muay Thai, despite it looking quite brutish.

---

Jonathan Haggerty was last finished via body shots, similar to Nong-O's last opponent, Alaverdi Ramazanov

Perhaps there is a reason why Haggerty is putting extra emphasis on hardening his body ahead of ONE Fight Night 9. This might be because of how 'The General' was last finished and how similar it was to Nong-O's latest victim.

Haggerty's latest defeat was via TKO due to body shots courtesy of ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon:

Haggerty was finished by a barrage of body attacks, similar to how Nong-O dismantled his latest world title challenger, Alaverdi Ramazanov, at ONE Friday Fights 1.

What Nong-O did to Ramzanov was eeriely identical to what Rodtang did to Haggerty: pressure, pressure, pressure. The Thai world champions stalked their opponents while overwhelming them with strikes both to the body and head. Eventually, they got the TKO via perfectly placed body punches.

Though we know 'The General' has made the necessary improvements to fix his body defense, it's still something worth looking into. Nong-O will definitely see Haggerty's mid-section as a point of vulnerability and will look to exploit it.

Jonathan Haggerty will fight Nong-O Hama for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE Fight Night 9. The event will air live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.