“This one is the first time” - Jonathan Haggerty says he felt “a big flash” when Superlek knocked him out in Denver
British striker Jonathan Haggerty has had his fair share of receiving solid hits in his illustrious career but said the most recent at the hands of Thai superstar Superlek Kiatmoo9 was something he did not experience before.
'The General' was knocked out by 'The Kicking Machine' just 49 seconds into their super title match at ONE 168 in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., on Sept. 6. He caught a solid below from Superlek from which he could not recover from. It saw him surrender the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title to the flyweight kickboxing king.
In his recent apperance on the Sky Sports MMA Club Podcast, which was uploaded on Sept. 27, Jonathan Haggerty shared what happened when he got hit by Superlek before slumping to the KO defeat, saying:
"I've been hit with them small MMA gloves and that's a game-changer. I've been hit with them before, and the shutters come down a split second and I'm back in the room. But this one is the first time the shutters come down for about 3 seconds like a big flash, and then next, you know, I looked up and I'm on the floor."
Jonathan Haggerty lost the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title after just one successful defense back in February over Brazilian challenger Felipe Lobo. Despite the defeat, the Englishman remains a world champion as he also holds the ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title.
The full replay of ONE 168: Denver is available on demand for fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription in North America.
Jonathan Haggerty puts MMA plans on hold after Muay Thai loss to Superlek
Fans looking forward to seeing Jonathan Haggerty compete in MMA will have to wait some time more as he said he is putting his plans of transitioning to mixed martial arts on hold after his tough Muay Thai loss to Superlek Kiatmoo9 last month at ONE 168: Denver.
The Orpington, England native said that he intends to set things in order first in his own lane of Muay Thai to be in a better position to start his MMA journey down the line. He shared this on the Sky Sports MMA Club Podcast, saying:
"Now that we've lost the Muay Thai belt, I'm going to be fully ready to go back and get that. I think that MMA is still on the cards, but I just feel like I need to manage the route I want to go down a lot better instead of taking fights here and there. Get myself ready and book it all again."
Apart from Muay Thai, Haggerty also competes in kickboxing and is actually the ONE bantamweight world champion in it. He said his plans to also compete in MMA is part of his push to continuously expand his horizon as a fighter.