ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion, Jonathan Haggerty, already has plans for what comes next. However, he is not interested in discussing them yet, with fight night fast approaching.
The Englishman puts his 26 pounds of gold on the line for the second time against former K-1 champion Yuki Yoza at ONE SAMURAI 1 inside the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, this Wednesday, April 29.
In his last defense, ‘The General’ authored a five-round clinic to overcome ‘Demon Blade’ Wei Rui in Qatar. He was initially set to defend his gold against Nabil Anane at ONE 173 last November, but a late injury forced him off the card.
The Brit, however, has used every day since to make sure he is fully fit and locked in for war. The hard lesson of that initial setback has shaped the way he approaches everything heading into Tokyo.
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The Team Underground and Knowlesy Academy representative has already had conversations with his team about what comes next after this matchup, but he refuses to discuss much about any of it until he has taken care of business at ONE SAMURAI 1.
Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA in an exclusive interview, Jonathan Haggerty made his mindset abundantly clear.
“My focus is on Yoza, completely. I am not thinking about what’s coming next. After my heartbreak, preparing for ONE 173, where I got injured, I’m just fully committed to seeing this one off. One step at a time. But we’ve definitely already plotted some next steps, but I’ll talk about it only after this one,” the 29-year-old shared ahead of fight night.
Jonathan Haggerty says he’s leveled up for Yuki Yoza war
Jonathan Haggerty sent another warning to Yoza, who appears confident he has what it takes to grab his ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title.
During the same interview with Sportskeeda MMA, ‘The General’ revealed his admiration for the Team Vasileus Man, but warned him that he’s going to bring a whole new level of toughness into their scheduled five-round war in Japan.
“He’s good, and I don’t underestimate him at all. He’s tough, but I’m a different level of toughness than he is. I’ll bring that level into this fight, and Yoza will be the witness of that,” the Team Underground and Knowlesy Academy representative shared.
Pay-per-view passes for ONE SAMURAI 1 are available for purchase at live.onefc.com.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
