ONE Championship: Jonathan Haggerty recalls being taken next to Sam-A after grueling world title battle: ‘It was a war’


Undisputed ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty of the UK has admitted Thai legend Sam-A Gaiyanghadao pushed him like never before.

“The General” challenged the Thai icon for the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship at ONE: For Honor in 2019. No one gave the British striker much of a chance at the time, considering he was facing a Thai icon with over 400 career fights.

But the intrepid Haggerty flipped the script and took the fight against Sam-A for five full rounds.

The two elite warriors displayed the highest levels of the “Art of Eight Limbs” and treated fans to a memorable brawl for the ages.

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Both proud warriors reached their limits when the bell rang, and Haggerty shocked the world by capturing the crown with a close unanimous decision victory.

Speaking on the Mulligan Brothers podcast on YouTube, Haggerty revealed the aftermath of this epic battle, where he and Sam-A were hospitalized.

The 28-year-old also revealed how they broke the language barrier after showing mutual respect.

“100 percent. And you know what made it better? They brought my opponent to the other hospital bed, and the two of us, he doesn’t speak English obviously, from Thailand, Sam-A. We both looked at each other and went like that, and it was just, it was a war. It was a great fight.”

Watch the full podcast episode:

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Jonathan Haggerty says he made tons of sacrifices to reach elite level

By now, Jonathan Haggerty is already accustomed to high-stakes championship fights.

But to reach the top, he had to work like everyone else.

“A lot. Twelve week fight camp. It was hard. It was very hard. The body was broken and I just had to keep going. I knew I was going to win, that’s what kept me going,” Haggerty said in the same interview.

He added:

“My friends, block out a lot of things, a lot of things that you could do in a fun way, but you have to have clear priorities and be where you want to be.”