ONE Championship shared a video of Nong-O Hama’s leg being bruised after a tough training session.
Nong-O is preparing to defend his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship in April. As a result, the Thai superstar has been sharpening his tools, including his always dangerous leg kicks. The Asia-based promotion made an Instagram post of the 36-year-old working on his leg kicks with the caption saying:
“Marks of progress 😤 Will Nong-O successfully defend his ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title against Jonathan Haggerty on April 21 at ONE Fight Night 9 on Prime Video? 👑 @nongogaiyanghadao”
Nong-O became the first bantamweight Muay Thai world champion by winning his promotional debut against Han Zi Hao. Since then, the Thai fighter has defended his throne seven times, including wins against Liam Harrison, Saemapetch Fairtex, Rodlek PK Saenchai, and more.
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Nong-O last fought in January, defeating Alaverdi Ramazanov by a third-round knockout. Three months later, the 36-year-old returns to the circle against Jonathan Haggerty at ONE Fight Night 9 on Prime Video.
Nong-O Hama showed respect to Jonathan Haggerty for his skills
Jonathan Haggerty is committing to the bantamweight division after spending most of his ONE Championship tenure at flyweight. ‘The General’ looks to ride the momentum of his November 2022 win against Vladimir Kuzmin into the matchup against Nong-O Hama. Although Nong-O is confident in his ability to defeat Haggerty, he had this to say during an interview with ONE:
“I’ve been watching Haggerty for a long time now, going back to his world title fights against Rodtang. He’s very skilled and uses many different Muay Thai techniques.”
Jonathan Haggerty seems to be in peak physical shape ahead of ONE Fight Night 9. With that said, the former flyweight Muay Thai world champion has a tough task ahead of him. Ten opponents have tried to take out Nong-O Hama, and all have failed. It’ll be intriguing to see if ‘The General’ can end his opponent’s legendary winning streak.
The ONE Fight Night 9 fight card has not been finalized, but several matchups have been announced, including Bokang Masunyane vs. Hiroba Minowa, Jhanlo Mark Sangiao vs. Matias Farinelli, Denice Zamboanga vs. Julie Mezabarba, and more. The event can be seen live and for free by North American Prime Video subscribers.