Watch: English striking star Jonathan Haggerty training sick five-hit combination
Jonathan Haggerty has been hard at work preparing for his return following an illness that forced him to withdraw from the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai Grand Prix in May.
No official announcement has been made by Haggerty or ONE Championship, however, ‘The General’ has been teasing a return via social media since being discharged from the hospital following an undisclosed illness.
ONE Championship gave us another glimpse into Haggerty’s intense training on its official Instagram. In the video clip, ‘The General’ can be seen working on a nasty combination, while the promotion asked fans to share their favorite combos.
“Drop your favorite combination in the comments”
With the goal of regaining the ONE flyweight Muay Thai World Championship in 2022, Jonathan Haggerty had high hopes of giving ONE Championship a reason to bring its global brand to the United Kingdom.
With his withdrawal from the World Grand Prix, Haggerty’s quest to regain ONE gold may have to wait a bit longer, but his goal of performing in front of his hometown crowd remains a top priority. In an interview with Tim Wheaton of Calf Kick Sports, Haggerty said:
"One hundred percent, that's the goal. Let's bring ONE to the UK and show the fans that the UK Muay Thai absolutely up there and smashing it."
Jonathan Haggerty shows interest in making a transition to mixed martial arts
Jonathan Haggerty is a former world champion and a celebrated Muay Thai striker, but ‘The General’ believes he can also make waves in the world of MMA.
Following the critically-acclaimed mixed-rules bout between flyweight icon Demetrious Johnson and flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon. Haggerty discussed a possible transition to mixed martial arts with ONE Championship, believing that he presents a bigger challenge for ‘Mighty Mouse’ compared to ‘The Iron Man’:
“I’m jumping straight on MMA training and I’m waiting for that phone call. Like I said, I think I would be a tougher fight for Demetrious Johnson [than Rodtang is], in all God’s honest truth. I’m just more athletic, so we’ll see what happens.”
Growing up in his father’s MMA gym surrounded by professional mixed martial artists, Jonathan Haggerty already possesses the core fundamentals to compete in the sport:
“I’m a born fighter. My dad’s got his own MMA gym, and I’ve grown up around MMA fighters. I’ve been doing the basics for years. I’d love to do an MMA fight. I did always say MMA would be the final goal.”
We are likely to see ‘The General’ make the move to MMA before it’s all said and done, but for now, it looks like the English striker is focusing on earning another crack at reigning Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon.