"Show him who the bigger man was" - Jonathan Haggerty admits desire to bully Superlek backfired big time

ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty expected to impose his will on Superlek Kiatmoo9 in his first foray into the 145-pound division.

As we know by now, things didn't go as planned for the Brit at ONE 168: Denver last September.

Haggerty started the bout as aggressively as usual but found himself on the canvas just 49 seconds into the bout after absorbing a crushing elbow to the temple which he could not recover from.

Admittedly, Haggerty revealed it was his overeagerness to send an early message that cost him to lose his bantamweight Muay Thai crown.

'The General' said in a recent interview on Sky Sports MMA Club Podcast:

"He was coming up from flyweight, I felt like I wanted to show him who the bigger man was and, just that really, and not taking my time. But like I said, learning curve and I’ll be back."

Haggerty loves to come out of the gates hot to counter the traditional Thai fighters' style of starting slow.

It certainly worked well for him in the past, particularly when he ended Nong-O Hama's reign in brutal fashion last year.

Plus, Haggerty was banking on Superlek being at a disadvantage due to his smaller stature but ended up learning a humbling lesson.

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Kiamran Nabati calls out Jonathan Haggerty

There's a new dark horse in the ultra-stacked bantamweight Muay Thai ranks and his name is Kiamran Nabati.

The undefeated Russian juggernaut recently took out former bantamweight Muay Thai kingpin Nong-O Hama at ONE Friday Fights 81. Now, he wants a piece of the top two guys in the division, Jonathan Haggerty and Nico Carrillo.

“I want my next opponent to be someone ranked higher than me in the top five. That would be Jonathan Haggerty or Nico Carrillo," Nabati told ONE.