ONE Championship News Roundup: Jonathan Haggerty feels he’s a good matchup for Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, Reinier de Ridder is done with Arjan Bhullar, Demetrious Johnson accepts nearing retirement
Welcome to today's edition of the daily Sportskeeda ONE Championship News Roundup, where we present the promotion's most important stories.
Today, we talk about Jonathan Haggerty describing a potential match against Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, Reinier de Ridder abandoning his chase of Arjan Bhullar, and Demetrious Johnson accepting the fact that his time in the sport is nearing its end.
#3. Jonathan Haggerty believes he’s "a real challenge for Nong-O" but doesn’t want to think too far ahead
Jonathan Haggerty has fought exclusively at flyweight in his ONE Championship tenure, but the British striker is now moving up a division and with it comes a whole slew of potential opponents.
Someone the former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion could face in the future is the legendary Nong-O Gaiyanghadao.
Nong-O is the reigning ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion and he’s held the belt since February 2019.
Haggerty, meanwhile, will make his bantamweight debut at ONE on Prime Video 4 against Vladimir Kuzmin on November 18 (US primetime). Though he already has a tough test ahead of him, ‘The General’ couldn’t help but talk about a potential showdown against the Thai icon.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Haggerty said that he’ll pose a different threat to what Nong-O has faced before:
“I don’t want to think ahead, but I really do think my footwork and my style will be a real challenge for Nong-O Gaiyanghadao. My youth, my fitness, and the way I’m going to feel now at bantamweight, the more confident I’m going to be. I’m going to be fit. So yeah, I just feel like my footwork and my youth will be a challenge for Nong-O.”
#2. “He doesn’t want to fight” - ONE Championship double-champ Reinier de Ridder says he’s "done chasing" Arjan Bhullar
Two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder has always been adamant about chasing that third world title, but it seems he’s abandoning his chase of ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar.
Instead of becoming a world title challenger, De Ridder will now defend his ONE Championship light heavyweight world title against ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5 on December 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
De Ridder, who also holds the ONE Championship middleweight world title, will be defending the light heavyweight crown for the first time since winning the gold in April 2021 against Aung La N Sang at ONE on TNT IV.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, De Ridder said he’s grown tired of pursuing Bhullar. Though he’s still interested in fighting for the heavyweight crown, ‘The Dutch Knight’ won’t go out of his way to push for the match:
“Yeah, but who knows what happens to Bhullar? I’m done chasing that. He’s not available, he doesn’t want to fight. He’s not relevant at the moment.”
Bhullar has been largely inactive since taking the belt from Brandon Vera in May 2021 at ONE: Dangal. Lengthy contract discussions with ONE Championship and an unexpected injury have kept the Canadian-Indian star out of action.
#1. “I’m not afraid of it” - Demetrious Johnson at peace with his career nearing its end
American legend Demetrious Johnson knows that his time in the sport won’t last forever and he’s not someone who’ll keep fighting until the wheels fall off.
The reigning ONE flyweight world champion is still operating at the highest level, but he knows that his retirement is approaching and he’s already accepted the fact that he’ll be hanging the gloves sooner rather than later.
Johnson revealed during his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience that he has two more years left in the tank and that he’s ready to retire after that:
“This is the home stretch, I’m not afraid of it. I’m smiling at it, because at some point you have to stop, you have to, you just have to as an athlete. If my body recovered like when I was 26, then yeah, I can see myself going for another 10 to 15 years. But sh*t, my shin still hurts from kicking Adriano [Moraes] in August.”
Johnson is already one of the greatest fighters in the history of mixed martial arts. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was a 12-time UFC flyweight world champion, a ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion, and is the only man to hold world titles in both ONE Championship and the UFC.
The 36-year-old achieved the historic feat when he knocked out Adriano Moraes in the fourth round of their match at ONE on Prime Video 1 this past August in Singapore.