The Haggerty dynasty is set to be the story of 2024 after two major announcement from the Walworth Road brothers in the last week.
Jonathan, 26, who has become one of the world’s biggest names in martial arts, announced his return to the ring to defend his ONE Championship Muay Thai bantamweight world title in Thailand next month. His challenger is Brazil’s Felipe Lobo and the fight will be live on Sky Sports on February 17.
Hot on the heels of that news, Jonathan’s younger brother Freddie, 18, revealed he had signed with ONE Championship and will make his debut on the platform at Friday Fights 49 on January 26 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, against an opponent that has yet to be confirmed.
The ONE Championship is the destination for the best fighters on the planet from disciplines including Muay Thai, kick-boxing and mixed martial arts. The founder and chief executive of the organisation, Chatri Sityodtong, has called it the “Olympics of martial arts”. Where another giant of the combat sports world, the UFC, has only mixed martial arts fighters, ONE is multi-disciplinary and ranks higher than Dana White’s platform in viewership and social media metrics.
Jonathan became a two-sport ONE champion when he defeated another Brazilian, Fabrício Andrade, in a second-round knockout in their kick-boing bout in Bangkok last November. That was after he captured the Muay Thai bantamweight world belt after a stunning first-round knockout of Nong-O Hama, the 37-year-old Thai’s first defeat since 2015 and his eighth defence of the title.
Jonathan announced himself on the ONE stage in 2019 when he beat another legend of the sport, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, by unanimous decision to win the Muay Thai flyweight world title.
Sityodtong doesn’t put any limits on how far Jonathan can go.
“He’s 26 years old and he’s really gone on a tear. He’s really come into his own in the last twelve months, he’s beaten some legendary names, very, very tough folks that no one thought he could beat and he’s risen to the top of the world in two different sports,” Sityodtong said on Sky Sports.
“UK fans have not seen a striker of his calibre ever.
“He’s genuinely the best striker in the UK right now. But more importantly, arguably one of the best pound-for-pound strikers full stop across any martial art in the world today. An incredible, incredible story. He’s absolutely talented.
“I think you’re going to see him reign for a long time, but at the same time he’s hungry for more. He has messaged me in the past about wanting to do mixed martial arts and eventually fight for the title as well.”
Freddie, meanwhile, is aiming to follow in the glittering path of his older brother.
“My goals with ONE are and always will be to win those belts, but as of right now I’m just focused on this fight and building my way up,” Freddie said. “I’m young, I’m not in a rush, I wanna enjoy the ride.”
The brothers are currently training together in Koh Samui.