ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion Jonathan “The General” Haggerty gave divisional MMA kingpin Fabricio “Wonder Boy” Andrade his flowers for stepping outside of his comfort zone.
It resulted in a dead-end for Andrade though.
At the start of this month, Haggerty sent Andrade back to MMA in style, finishing the Brazilian in the second round of their encounter for the vacant kickboxing World Title at ONE Fight Night 16.
Still, the Englishman gave Andrade props for challenging himself in a kickboxing match.
“He’s a great striker. He showed it in his MMA fights. He’s a great champion. There’s respect there for sure. Anyone who steps into that ring, there’s always respect. But I knew his striking wasn’t on my level. I will say it time and time again,” he said.
“He went for greatness, he tried for greatness, you can’t knock him for that.”
Now, it’s Andrade’s turn to welcome Haggerty into his world.
Though there aren’t any definite plans yet for “The General” to cross over into MMA, he showed interest in competing in the all-encompassing sport and even plans to work with the Ruotolo twins, Kade and Tye, to better his skills.
“[MMA] sounds great and I’m in no rush. I’ll take it step-by-step and go with the flow. When it feels right, I’ll go for it,” he said.
Should Haggerty make the transition to MMA, he’s going straight for the king as he plans to challenge Andrade for his belt. And he’s confident that he’s got a puncher’s chance if they meet in MMA gloves.
“For sure, I’m up for it. It’s 4-ounce gloves, so could you imagine if I fought in 4-ounce gloves. What would happen? Who knows?” he added.
“It would’ve been a lot worse for him, so I’m coming for your belt if you’re seeing this.”