"I changed my style" - Jonathan Haggerty says losing to Rodtang made him a better and more complete fighter
'The General' Jonathan Haggerty had to do a lot of soul-searching after losing to Rodtang twice in 2020 and 2021.
Haggerty suffered a lot of disappointment on his journey to greatness. Losing his flyweight belt to Rodtang by contentious decision, especially, stung him at the core. And then, finding out that his body was being overworked by difficult weight cuts, made the situation even look even more unbearable.
But Haggerty handled his greatest failures with professionalism and humility.
This week, as he heads towards Denver to defend his coveted bantamweight Muay Thai belt against ultimate superstar Superlek Kiatmoo9, Jonathan Haggerty explained the formula to his success with Sky Sports MMA Club on Spotify:
"I say just by fighting the best in the world, from such a young age. Knowing what works and what doesn't work. And I sort of changed my style at the second or third fight in ONE Championship, and that was the first fight against Rodtang. So, I kind of changed my style into southpaw, orthodox, and I realized that worked. And yes, ever since that fight, everything just completely changed, until the belts."
ONE 168: Denver is free on demand for Prime Video subscribers on September 6 in the United States and Canada.
"I knew I'd get him back" - Jonathan Haggerty recalls fiery exchange with Felipe Lobo in last bantamweight Muay Thai world title defense
Jonathan Haggerty is not the only champion to have returned back into a fight after being dropped against the ropes.
'The General' has faced adversity on multiple occasions, but never as a Muay Thai bantamweight world champion. No.2 ranked opponent, Felipe Lobo, nearly became the new 145-pound king when he dropped Haggerty with solid combinations in the first round of their Muay Thai war.
But the Brit never relented. Regardless of what had occurred, he kept his head in the game until scoring a terrific comeback via knockout in the round.
Recalling those past moments, Haggerty told ONE:
"There was no doubt he caught me with a big shot. I wasn't really hurt that bad. I just thought I'd take a little rest and take a seat. I knew I'd get him back. There isn't any quit in me. There never is, and I showed that tonight."