Jonathan Haggerty says Nong-O played perfectly into his strategy

Jonathan Haggerty knew he would need to approach his ONE Fight Night 9 headliner with Nong-O based on how the former ONE world champion approached their brief but exciting encounter.

Nong-O is a fighter that seemingly grows stronger as the bout goes on longer. In his last five victories, all by way of knockout, the Thai superstar put away his opponent in the third round or later, leading ‘The General’ to one conclusion: go for the kill early.

He did exactly that, blitzing Nong-O in the opening round of their eagerly anticipated contest and scoring three quick knockdowns to capture the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Jonathan Haggerty shared some details about his strategy going into the matchup.

“I don’t think I even set any traps,” Haggerty said. “We were waiting to see what he was doing. We felt like he was gonna come out strong, so we were ready for that. And we were ready for him to just sit back and relax and for him to come out of round three, four, and five. But he sat back and relaxed, which was perfect. One shot one kill. I told you before, didn’t I?”

Friday’s setback was just the first loss for Nong-O Hama since signing with the promotion back in 2018. Before surrendering the ONE world title to Jonathan Haggerty, the 265-win veteran had 10-straight inside the Circle with decisive wins over top stars including Saemapetch Fairtex, Felipe Lobo, Liam Harrison, and Alaverdi Ramazanov.

Nong-O, 36, has nothing left to prove in his combat sports career, and nobody would blame him for hanging up the gloves. However, given his immense success over the last few years, it’s hard to imagine he would want to walk away on such a somber note, especially with a plethora of potential superfights still available.

What would you like to see Nong-O Hama do next?