ONE
Championship's most recent Amazon offering featured a unique
champion vs. champion headliner. On one side was England's
Jonathan
Haggerty, a superb striker and the reigning ONE 145-pound muay
thai world champion. Facing him was Brazil's Fabricio de Andrade,
who had scored a sensational fourth-round knockout of the great
John
Lineker to become the ONE 145-pound mixed martial arts king.
However, the two weren't competing in either MMA or muay thai, but
in kickboxing, with ONE's vacant 145-pound crown on the line. Which
man would become a champ-champ across two different combat
sports?
The answer soon became apparent. Haggerty was too fast, skilled and
good for de Andrade, pelting him with one gorgeous combination
after another. The Brazilian was tough enough to stay on his feet
in the opening round, despite absorbing a lot of damage. But it was
too much in the second stanza, as he was unable to beat the count
after being felled by an endless barrage of punches. Haggerty is
now champion in two different combat sports and has proven himself
one of the best pound-for-pound strikers in the world.
In other major contender bouts, No. 4 ranked and undefeated
Halil
Amir faced a game foe in
Ahmed
Mujtaba, who almost locked in an early submission. However,
Amir escaped and pounded his foe from the top, decimating him with
ground-and-pound at the end of the first round. The bell sounded,
seemingly saving Mujtaba, but referee
Herb Dean
called off the contest between frames.
Here are a couple of exciting fights that suggest themselves
following
ONE Fight Night 16:
Akimoto is the No. 1 contender for Haggerty's new ONE kickboxing
crown, and an obvious challenger. He was the former champion until
losing his throne by a razor-thin split decision in late 2022
against Petchtanong Banchamek. However, Banchamek tested positive
for performance enhancers, vacating the crown. Akimoto has a claim
to the title, narrowly losing to a tainted fighter. Thus, it would
make sense for him to face Haggerty. Akimoto isn't a big power
puncher, but he is highly skilled, and at 31, may well be in the
prime of his career, potentially frustrating the aggressive
Haggerty with his defensive prowess. It would be a fine title fight
and possibly the co-main or headliner of the card on which it
appears.
At 10-0 and 29 years old, Amir is ready for a big step up in
competition. So why not No.1 contender and former champion
Rae Yoon
Ok, who lost his title to current champion
Christian
Lee? To some extent, this would be a striker vs. grappler
matchup, with the powerful Amir looking to take it to the ground
with his devastating ground-and-pound and Ok looking to keep it
standing. However, Ok is a good grappler in his own right and Amir
has shown solid stand-up skills. Regardless, with Ok holding a
victory over Lee as well as his loss in a rematch, the victor in
this bout would be in prime position to challenge Lee for the world
title.