Jonathan Haggerty knows by now that there are no easy fights at the highest levels of striking in ONE Championship. As such, the reigning ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion is treading lightly for his first world title defense against arguably China's best striker, Wei Rui.
These two elite warriors will slug it out for 26 pounds of gold in the co-main event of ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20 inside Lusail Sports Arena.
The British megastar shared during the event's press conference:
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"I'm very excited to defend my belt against Wei Rui. You know, he's a very credible opponent, the number one for a reason. We've left no stone unturned."
'The General' continued:
"We've not overlooked him, and we're just excited to put on a great performance for everyone. And tune in and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a great fight, a great event."
Jonathan Haggerty exudes extreme confidence but is always respectful of his challengers, especially one with the credentials of Wei.
'Demon Blade' looked phenomenal in his masterful dissection of former 145-pound kickboxing kingpin Hiroki Akimoto last year.
The Chinese warrior will enter this title bout on a remarkable 21-fight winning streak and will look for his 71st career victory at ONE 171. Watch the full event via watch.onefc.com.
Wei Rui believes he already found Jonathan Haggerty's weakness
Wei Rui did his due diligence on Jonathan Haggerty and thinks he already found a hole in the champion's armor.
As far as 'Demon Blade' is concerned, the English slugger supposedly cannot handle body shots, which he'll gladly exploit at ONE 171.
The multiple-time K1 world champion told ONE:
"Haggerty’s speed and explosiveness, those are his strengths. His weakness is also visible to everyone – his abdomen. His ability to take body shots is definitely a disadvantage."
Watch the full ONE 171: Qatar press conference: