Rodtang Stops Haggerty With TKO Finish In Bangkok

ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon ended his rivalry with Jonathan “The General” Haggerty in emphatic fashion in the main event of ONE: A NEW TOMORROW in Bangkok, Thailand.

After a razor-close first encounter in August 2019, the Thai superstar showed his superiority by claiming the technical knockout victory and defending his ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title in their rematch on Friday, 10 January.

The Brit looked composed in the early running of the bout inside the Impact Arena, and his game plan of long jabs and kicks was effective. However, “The Iron Man” flipped the script when he drove a hurtful left hook into the Londoner’s liver. Haggerty went down, and this gave the home country hero the green light to attack his body with a vengeance.

“The General” regained his feet, but Rodtang did not let him rest and went to the mid-section with left hooks and straight rights. Slowly, Haggerty’s strikes started to flow again, and he even landed teeps to the Thai’s face, but he always looked at the mercy of the defending World Champion’s power.

The Jitmuangnon representative chopped away at Haggerty’s lead leg to start the second round, and “The General” replied with hard straights and push kicks to keep him at bay. Rodtang, however, stayed determined and charged in with a left hook to the body.

“The Iron Man” showed he had finesse as well as aggression when he deftly jumped over Haggerty’s leg sweep attempt, and then went back to pressuring the Knowlesy Academy athlete with punches in bunches.

Rodtang dumped the Brit early in round three, but Haggerty got back on his toes, landed a push kick to the face from the outside, and tried to find a home for his trademark downward elbow.

After a brief break for an eye poke, the Jitmuangnon athlete stepped on the gas and lunged at his adversary with hooks. “The General” scored with an accurate jab-cross in return, but Rodtang plowed ahead.

The Thai then pushed Haggerty into the corner and dropped him with a furious flurry of punches, including two left hooks and a straight right to the body. The 22-year-old challenger got back up, but not for long. As he jumped in with a knee, Rodtang replied with looping hooks to the head that planted him on the canvas once more.

“The General” dragged himself off the floor one last time, but a final salvo of strikes punctuated with a hard left to the gut from “The Iron Man” finished him off at 2:39 of round three.

Rodtang is now 7-0 in ONE Super Series and 261-41-10 in his career. At this stage, it would take a monumental effort to unseat the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion from his throne in The Home Of Martial Arts.

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