ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Demetrious Johnson has been on a lot of fighters’ radars lately. Before being called out by ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks just a few days ago, Johnson was in two-sport striking king Jonathan Haggerty’s line of fire. Haggerty, the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai, and Kickboxing World Champion, has been in a league of his own after a monumental 2023, and he continues to have his eyes on other prizes.
“The General” completed a triumphant move to ONE Championship’s bantamweight Muay Thai division this past April at ONE Fight Night 9, dethroning longtime king Nong-O Hama inside one round to claim the crown. Haggerty then returned at ONE Fight Night 16 earlier this month, where he achieved superstar status, knocking out Fabricio Andrade for the weight bracket’s vacant kickboxing World Title.
Whether or not that fight will happen, only time will tell. For now, it looks like Haggerty could be looking at more opportunities in the kickboxing division before he ultimately decided to jump into the MMA world.
Demetrious Johnson shares his thoughts on Jonathan Haggerty’s fighting style
Competing in the world’s largest martial arts organization has allowed ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Demetrious Johnson to witness some of the best strikers in combat sports first-hand. Especially those around his same weight category. One such fighter whom “Mighty Mouse” has enamored is two-sport ONE World Champion Jonathan Haggerty.
The MMA GOAT went on record to state his admiration for “The General’s” handiwork.“This guy is amazing. His stand-up is straight fire. He fought Rodtang two times and came up short. But I feel like if anyone else but Rodtang was in there, Haggerty would be a strong champion in that division,” Johnson said on his YouTube channel. “What he did do is he went up a weight class, because he had a hard time making 135, which in ONE Championship is their flyweight division. So he went up to [bantamweight] which is 145, and he did knock out the terror Nong-O in I believe the first round, in which he was the champion.”
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ONE Championship has made a name for itself by promoting major crossover fights, as seen when Johnson battled ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in March 2022 at ONE X in a mixed rules affair. Given Haggerty’s recent capturing of the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to see him clash with another combat sports giant like Johnson in 2024.