“The altitude here is no joke” - Jonathan Haggerty starts acclimating to Denver’s air ahead of super fight against Superlek
Jonathan Haggerty has landed in Denver and is now slowly acclimating to the city's demanding altitude.
The two-sport king will defend his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title against Superlek Kiatmoo9, the reigning ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion, in the main event of ONE 168: Denver.
Haggerty's super fight against Superlek goes down on September 6 at Ball Arena.
The British superstar never stopped working on his preparation for Superlek and showed on Instagram his recent padwork with longtime coach and trainer Christian Knowles.
Jonathan Haggerty posted:
"Straight through the pipe 💤 🔪 @onechampionship #andstill. The altitude here is no joke 🏔"
Haggerty, who also holds the ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title, was perfecting his clinical 1-2 combinations with Knowles, which could be a precursor to his game plan for Superlek.
Riding a six-fight winning streak, Haggerty is in the best form of his ONE Championship career.
The former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion is also on a string of three straight knockouts against Nong-O Hama, bantamweight MMA king Fabricio Andrade, and Felipe Lobo.
Superlek, however, is also on a dominant run of form.
'The Kicking Machine' is an impressive 14-1 in ONE Championship and is on a 10-fight winning streak.
Those who have fallen victim to Superlek include ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Japanese legend Takeru Segawa, Panpayak Jitmuangnon, and Daniel Puertas.
Tickets for ONE 168 are available at Ticketmaster.
Jonathan Haggerty admits he struggled bulking up to bantamweight in 2022
Jonathan Haggerty may hold two world titles in the bantamweight division, but he admitted struggling to bulk up to 145 pounds when he left the flyweight class.
Haggerty started his ONE Championship career as a flyweight but decided to move up to bantamweight after a couple of medical scares.
His first fight at bantamweight, however, didn't live up to his expectations after he weighed in at 148 pounds against Russian slugger Vladimir Kuzmin for their November 2022 fight.
In the Retrospect video he uploaded on his YouTube channel, Haggerty recalled:
"I actually missed weight for this fight, bantamweight, because I got all the judgments wrong for the weight, the hydration up to bantamweight. I didn't know how much water my body could hold. So it was all new to me and my coach."