Two young rising stars in the world of Muay Thai clashed as Freddie Haggerty and newcomer Jordan Estupinan opened festivities at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday night in Asian primetime.
Haggerty claimed three impressive victories in the ONE Friday Fights series, which led him to now showcase his talents on ONE Championship's biggest stage. The younger brother of ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty looked to carve his own path beginning with Colombia's Jordan Estupinan.
Like his British nemesis, Estupinan wants to step out of the shadow of his twin brother, Johan Estupinan, by making a statement of his own. Johan already has four wins under his belt in as many appearances, and Jordan wants to show that he is just as exciting as his brother.
Round 1: Both men are heated right from the get-go, with a fiery faceoff before the start of the match. The youngsters showcase their kicks early on, but Freddie Haggerty deals the first significant damage of the match with a good punching combination.
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Jordan Estupinan shows his athleticism and composure despite this being his first match in ONE, while Haggerty proves to be elusive on defense. Haggerty mounted offense after catching a kick by Estupinan. The pair gets tangled up to end the round, with Haggerty looking confident as he goes back to his corner.
Round 2: Haggerty deals the first strike of the round, but it was telegraphed perfectly by Estupinan. After a brief exchange of kicks, an inadvertent low blow stopped the action for a while. When action resumed, Estupinan missed on a jumping kick but showed that he was fine after the low blow. He then surprised everyone by catching Haggerty with a powerful overhand right that led to the first knockdown of the fight.
Estupinan put on more pressure and scored another knockdown with a counter right in the very next exchange. Smelling blood in the water, Estupinan continued to be aggressive by pouring on his offense. However, Haggerty would not let up, and even dared his opponent to bring it on.
Estupinan looked to end the match, but Haggerty proved durable even as he went toe-to-toe with his opponent as the round drew to a close. They end the round face-to-face with some words exchanged.
Round 3: Down two knockdowns, Haggerty came out of the gates looking to engage, but Estupinan wisely stayed in the distance. When they did engage, Estupinan unleashed his hands and knees.
Haggerty puts on the pressure by bombarding Estupinan's body with punches. He scores with an elbow and continues to target the body. Estupinan looked to be in trouble and backpedaled away, but Haggerty remained relentless. He put Estupinan's back on the Circle and unloaded, but Estupinan rolled out of trouble.
With time running out, Haggerty continued to push, but Estupinan countered well in clinches, created more distance, and endured his rival's offense to finish the match on his feet and his hand raised in victory.
ONE 170 - Freddie Haggerty vs. Jordan Estupinan Official Result
Two knockdowns proved to be a difficult hurdle to overcome for Freddie Haggerty, as Jordan Estupinan dealt the young Brit's first loss in ONE by coming away with a unanimous decision victory at ONE 170.
It was a good start to the Colombian's ONE Championship career, as he proved that he is just as lethal as his twin brother in the 4-ounce gloves.
Official Result: Jordan Estupinan defeats Freddie Haggerty via unanimous decision (Muay Thai - Flyweight)