MMA icon Demetrious Johnson says he ‘wouldn’t want to be in a slugfest’ with two-sport king Jonathan Haggerty

Mixed martial arts legend Demetrious Johnson is so impressed with the striking of double ONE world champion Jonathan Haggerty that if 'The General’ pushes through with his plans to also compete in MMA, he would not want to be in a slugfest with him.

‘Mighty Mouse’ made this known after witnessing Haggerty successfully defend his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE Fight Night 19 on Feb. 16 over Brazilian challenger Felipe Lobo. The British striker steadily tore down his opponent on his way to a third-round TKO victory.

Breaking down the Haggerty-Lobo fight on his YouTube channel, Demetrious Johnson highlighted the crisp striking of Haggerty, which he said could be a handful to opponents in MMA.

Haggerty, who is also the ONE bantamweight kickboxing king, said he is thinking of going after the division’s MMA gold, currently held by Brazilian champion Fabricio Andrade, the fighter he defeated to claim the vacant kickboxing world title.

Johnson said if he was to battle Haggerty in an MMA title, he would try to find other ways to get the better of him, apart from just relying on striking.

He said:

“I don’t know if he [Fabricio Andrade] is healthy right now, but unless Fabricio comes out there and wrestles the hell out of Jonathan Haggerty, I wouldn’t want to be in a slugfest with Jonathan Haggerty, let’s just put it at that.”

Check out what he had to say below:

The victory over Lobo improved Haggerty’s record to 23 wins and four losses. Eight of his wins have come in ONE Championship, which he has been a part of since January 2019.

Meanwhile, Johnson was last in action in May last year in the United States, where he defended his ONE flyweight MMA world title by unanimous decision over former divisional king Adriano Moraes.

The replay of the ONE Fight Night 19 card is available on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel. Meanwhile, North American fans with an active subscription can catch all the action via Amazon Prime Video.

Demetrious Johnson also impressed with skills of Roman Kryklia

Apart from Jonathan Haggerty, Demetrious Johnson is also high on the skill set of another double ONE world champion, Roman Kryklia. In particular, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is impressed by the towering fighter’s combination of size, agility and power.

The 6-foot-6 Kryklia, the reigning ONE light heavyweight kickboxing and heavyweight Muay Thai world champion, won all of his six matches in ONE Championship since debuting in November 2019.

His most recent victory came back in December over Australian Alex Roberts to claim the inaugural light heavyweight Muay Thai gold by second-round knockout.

In an interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast last year, Demetrious Johnson raved about the abilities of Kryklia, even likening him to a superhero.

He said:

"There’s a kickboxer in ONE. He’s f**king massive and he’s got a f**king six-pack, he’s got good pecs, he looks like a superhero, and he’s like bop, bop, bop, high kick, uppercut, right hand. I was like ‘Oh my, this is amazing!’ That’s one of the things I love about ONE Championship is you get the purest form of the martial art."