“He’s a Man Now” – Freddie Haggerty Warns Superlek Expect a Different Fight Against Jonathan Haggerty at ONE 168

Rising ONE Championship star Freddie Haggerty has no doubt in his mind that his brother, two-sport king Jonathan “The General” Haggerty, will exact revenge in his upcoming outing.

On U.S. primetime on Friday, September 6, “The General” will defend the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title against flyweight kickboxing titleholder Superlek Kiatmoo9 in the main event of ONE 168: Denver inside the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Freddie Haggerty weighs down on his brother against Superlek

The thrilling match will be the second meeting between the two striking savants. The pair first met in 2018, with Superlek walking away as victor after Haggerty was deemed unable to continue because of a cut above his eye. In an interview with ONE, the younger Haggerty explained what a win for his brother in their rematch at ONE 169 would mean.

“It’s massive. Jon knows how big it is. Everyone regards Superlek as the pound-for-pound greatest, so to beat Superlek and get revenge from the first fight would be huge,” he said.

“Personally, I think the first fight was stopped in the most pathetic way. It was the tiniest cut on Jon. You could’ve put a plaster over it, it was so little. But for him to work back to this point, to grow so much, and to have the chance to even the scores, it couldn’t be bigger. If he beats Superlek, he’s the pound-for-pound best.”

Both fighters have gone on impressive runs in ONE Championship since they tussled last. Haggerty won the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title at ONE: FOR HONOR in May 2019 but lost it to Rodtang a few months later.

The Brit continued to pounce on the competition in the stacked striking division, though, before he decided to move up to bantamweight.

Superlek’s dominance might hinder Haggerty’s aspirations

Once there, it didn’t take him long to gain gold – first in Muay Thai by defeating longtime divisional king Nong-O Hama, and then in kickboxing by taking the vacant title in his win over MMA titleholder Fabricio Andrade.

Meanwhile, Superlek is on a massive 10-fight win streak for an overall 14-1 record in ONE’s striking competitions. Two of his last three wins have come against Japanese superstar Takeru Segawa and Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon, who are considered royalty in kickboxing and Muay Thai, respectively.

“The Kicking Machine’s” dominance is undeniable, but Freddie Haggerty believes that his brother’s development since they last met will give him a significant edge when they meet this September.

“He was a kid in the first fight. But he’s a man now. He’s bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter than the version of him in 2018,” he said.