Superlek Attains Two-Sport Glory With Crushing KO Of Jonathan Haggerty At ONE 168: Denver
“The Kicking Machine” Superlek Kiatmoo9 continued his glorious ride to the Mount Rushmore of Muay Thai with a scintillating sub-minute knockout of Jonathan “The General” Haggerty in the main event of ONE 168: Denver.
The ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion arrived inside the packed Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, game to prove why he’s widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound striker in the world today. And he couldn’t have written the script any better.
He captured the Englishman’s ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title to join an elite list of two-sport World Champions at the organization’s second on-ground spectacle in the U.S., which aired live in North American primetime on Friday, September 6.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic, though, as the Kiatmoo9 Gym athlete was forced to deal with a heavy onslaught from Haggerty. The two-sport king came in guns blazing, working behind his left straights and sweeping low kicks.
Despite standing in the face of adversity, Superlek didn’t throw any caution to the wind. Instead, the muay femur stylist stuck to what he does best – setting up traps.
Needless to say, Haggerty took the bait and launched into enemy territory with a right punch. At that moment, Superlek evaded and countered with a right elbow and, coupled with Haggerty’s forward momentum, left the latter flattened on the canvas.
Although Haggerty displayed the heart of a champion to regain his footing, he failed to beat the eight-count, thus handing the Thai megastar the knockout victory inside just 49 seconds.
Superlek’s win was his 11th straight in the world’s largest martial arts organization and pushed his overall record to an impressive 139-29.
At the same time, the newly crowned two-sport king claimed a US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong and stopped Haggerty’s six-fight winning streak.
