"I wanted to show him on the ring" - Walter Goncalves has unfinished business with Jonathan Haggerty

Walter Goncalves tasted his first victory in ONE Championship, but he’s hoping to do battle with his intended opponent, Jonathan Haggerty, in the near future.

Haggerty was pulled out of his match against Goncalves in the quarterfinals of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix hours before ONE 157 kicked off.

During ONE Championship’s virtual media day, things got heated between the two competitors, with both of them predicting knockouts against each other. Haggerty was particularly confident that he would get the finish against the Brazilian striker.

Unfortunately, their fight did not come to fruition, but Goncalves was able to advance to the next round of the tournament after defeating Josue Cruz, who stepped up for ‘The General’ at the last minute.

During the post-fight interview, Walter Goncalves said that he has unfinished business to settle with Haggerty in the circle.

“We do have matters to finish because he teased me, and now I want to show him what I showed him on the screen, I want to show him in the ring,” he said. “I hope he gets well soon and gets strong, trains a lot, and gets prepared because I didn’t want to show him [what I will do to him] on the screen, I wanted to show him on the ring.”

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Walter Goncalves looking forward to the next round

Walter Goncalves made short work of last-minute replacement Josue Cruz in their ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix quarterfinal matchup at ONE 157.

Cruz was initially scheduled to face Panpayak Jitmuangnon for an alternate spot in the tournament, but was tabbed to replace Jonathan Haggerty on the day of the event. Goncalves came out hard right from the start and needed only 35 seconds to get the TKO victory.

With the win, the Brazilian striker notched his first win in the promotion and advanced to the semifinal round opposite Superlek Kiatmoo9.

Asked for his predictions on how the tournament will play out, Goncalves said he wants to focus on getting himself ready and not look too far ahead in the future.

Walter Goncalves said:

“This is a world class championship, so you never know who’s really going to win. I would say I’m very confident and prepared, so I don’t want to make predictions. I just want to go there and show [everyone] what I can do.”