Felipe “Demolition Man” Lobo doesn’t need any added fuel on his quest for ONE Championship gold, but ahead of his ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title fight against two-sport king Jonathan “The General” Haggerty, he’s getting plenty of added fire.
The two bantamweight greats will headline ONE Fight Night 19 on 17 February inside Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and the Brazilian heavy hitter can’t wait to come in and end all talks.
Haggerty’s been name dropping Lobo since the latter’s big comeback win over Saemapetch Fairtex, and it spilled over when the Englishman called him out after beating his teammate Fabricio Andrade at the end of last year.
“[Haggerty has] been calling me since my last fight with Saemapetch. When my fight with Saemapetch ended, back at the hotel he walked past me and said, ‘I liked watching you fight. You’re next,’” he said.
“On the day of the fight with Fabricio, it was the same thing. [Haggerty] walked past me and said, ‘You’re next.’
“I said, ‘Let’s see what happens next time. I’m waiting for you.’ His coaches came and said a lot of things, but I couldn’t understand because everyone was talking at the same time. He likes to talk a lot. He is talkative.”
Lobo took those words to heart, and now he plans to quiet Haggerty for good by taking one of his belts when they meet inside “The Mecca of Muay Thai” in less than two weeks.
“This confrontation certainly increased my desire to face him. Especially because in the ring, he said I was a nobody. So, I want to show him who I am,” he said.
He did praise Haggerty’s hands, noting how he maximizes his boxing skills to set up flurries of attacks. However, he did question “The General’s” defensive skills and ability to absorb hits.
“He knows how to use his boxing very well. He moves forward all the time and kicks very well. Furthermore, he has good feints that I need to pay attention to so as not to be surprised. But I believe his strong point is his speed. He moves very well,” he said.
“And his weak point is that he can’t take many hits. He’s very good at hitting, but when it comes to defending himself, protecting himself, he’s not so good.”
That’s why Lobo believes he’ll come out of Lumpinee Boxing Stadium not only as the new ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion, but also as just the second man to finish Haggerty in ONE Championship after Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
“Like I said, I think there will be a lot of striking in this fight. I’m preparing myself for everything – walking backward, moving forward, to suppress – but I keep in mind that I can’t let him get comfortable in the fight,” he said.
“But my prediction is to win this fight by knockout. I’m going to knock him out – that’s my prediction.”