Jonathan Haggerty has set his sights again on Fabricio Andrade’s ONE Championship bantamweight MMA title – vowing to chase his long-held dream of becoming the promotion’s first simultaneous three-sport world champion.
The 28-year-old Briton returns at ONE 173 in Tokyo on November 16, where he will face Nabil Anane for the bantamweight Muay Thai belt.
Victory, he said, would reignite his bid to complete the historic trifecta.
‘I can see a [Fabricio] Andrade super fight next for the MMA world title – let’s go,’ Haggerty told the Bangkok Post. ‘I want to be the consecutive three-sport champ and have all three belts at one time, and it starts with November 16. We get the Muay Thai belt back, and who knows – we’ll have to see. But the future is looking bright and I’m excited for it.’
Haggerty won both the Muay Thai and kickboxing bantamweight titles in 2023, the latter against Andrade when the belt was vacant in what was an ill-tempered rivalry.
He then called for a crack at the Brazilian’s MMA crown – but instead defended his Muay Thai belt twice, stopping Felipe Lobo before surrendering it to Superlek in Denver last September.
The Londoner admitted his focus for now remains firmly on Anane, but said he would welcome a direct leap into MMA title contention afterward.
‘Let’s go straight for the MMA belt – no warm-up fight in MMA,’ he said. ‘Listen, I’m focused on Nabil, the task ahead of us. We have to wait and see how things pan out, but the main goal now is to defeat Nabil and reclaim the world title.’
Andrade, who defends his MMA belt against Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu at ONE Fight Night 38 in December, told the Bangkok Post he is open to the matchup – but would like to see Haggerty gain MMA experience first.
‘I just want to fight – it doesn’t matter who it is,’ Andrade said. ‘If he starts fighting MMA, he could be a potential opponent, no problem.
‘I think it would be good to build this fight if he does an MMA fight first. If he has never fought MMA, you cannot just go straight for the title. They can give him an opponent, and he can make his debut, then it’s very easy to make it happen.
‘Maybe John Lineker – that would be a tough fight for him, because Lineker mixes very well with the takedowns.’
For now, Haggerty’s focus is on reclaiming the Muay Thai belt he once held. But with a win in Tokyo, the door could open for one of ONE’s most ambitious cross-disciplinary showdowns yet.