"I remember seeing the planets" - Jonathan Haggerty recalls initial reaction after almost getting finished by Felipe Lobo
Jonathan Haggerty is no stranger to the deep waters and staying strong in the face of adversity to come through them. He's been tested at the highest level throughout his career, and that gives him confidence in his ability to weather the storms.
This was on full display in his last outing at ONE Fight Night 19, where his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship was on the line for the first time.
His opponent, Felipe Lobo, isn't known as 'Demolition Man' for no reason and the Brazilian is a very effective fight finisher to back up his power.
Lobo had a lot of success in this fight and, at one point, seemed on his way to finishing the champion in dramatic fashion.
Haggerty was able to maintain his composure thanks to his experience, recover, and then went on to stop his challenger in an unbelievable fight. The champion looked back at this testing moment in a recent YouTube video to reveal exactly what was going through his head at the time:
"He trained his heart out, and he was bringing the fire. I remember him catching me at the top of my head. And I remember seeing the planets and the things that go around the. I remember seeing that. As that wall, see that I was covering my head, covering my body because he was going for my body, and he was just hitting me around the place. I thought, let me just take a seat here. Here, he's actually come to knock me out."
Watch the full video below:
Jonathan Haggerty backs himself in these moments
Whilst his next opponent may look to learn from Felipe Lobo's success in this fight, Jonathan Haggerty has shown how difficult he is to discourage. The champion always has his heart and toughness to rely on when fights start to heat up, and he will undoubtedly need this in his back pocket once again at ONE 168.
His next title challenger, Superlek Kiatmoo9, stopped the Brit in their previous meeting before both men signed to ONE Championship.
Now, Haggerty will look to make a statement at the Ball Arena in Denver on September 6.
Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are available via Ticketmaster.