Two-sport world champion Jonathan Haggerty is leaving nothing to chance for his upcoming clash against Superlek Kiatmoo9 in the main event of ONE 168: Denver. The British superstar will take on a man many consider the planet’s top pound-for-pound striker. Superlek comes into the contest as the reigning ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion who is now looking to become a two-sport champion next. But the 27-year-old is more focused on himself and is working exceptionally hard on his fitness. ‘The General’ underwent an intense thirteen-week training camp where he spent the first nine months in Thailand.

He is now finishing his camp in Denver, where he has been training for the last four weeks to properly acclimate with Denver’s vaunted altitude. While speaking to the South China Morning Post, he shared his experiences and said,  “I got out here the first day I got out here with Chris. We hit the pads, and the first round he was about to go, and I did 20 kicks each side. And then, after that, I looked at him, and I went pale white. I went this ain’t good. We need to acclimatize properly.” However, he feels Superlek might just have a slight disadvantage in the fight because of one particular reason. 

Jonathan Haggerty points out the problem Superlek will face in the clash in Denver 

As the reigning ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion, Jonathan Haggerty always stays in the best shape. However, his hunger to improve and constantly elevate his game forces him to do things out of the box. After working on his stamina and conditioning in Thailand, Haggerty decided to fly to Denver four weeks before the fight just to get used to the elevation in the mountainous region of Colorado. His opponent, Superlek, is riding on a ten-fight winning streak, but the champion feels he might struggle to bring out his best in Denver. While speaking to ONE Championship, the champion admitted that Denver’s thin air is indeed taxing for the lungs and takes time to acclimatize. 

This was the exact question that was asked to him by the host of the South China Morning Post. He said, There’s one thing that troubles me. I heard that he( Superlek) isn’t arriving for a while and it’s at elevation you need to prepare right? And it really affects some people. What’s going on there? What’s he doing? Haggerty was quick to respond to the question and said, “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a great idea”. He further added, A lot of people think it’s not a thing but really is. Hence why having a climbing up the mountains. Training in the stairs elevation and training. I think that’s gonna play a big part of it.” 

Superlek is moving up a weight class to challenge the champion, but his weight might just be a problem for him, feels Haggerty. The two-sport champion was quick to point out and said, “And him having that extra weight he’s not gonna be used to it . And then on top of that the elevation and the altitude may just hit him like a ton of bricks. So we’ll see.” While ‘The General’ has pointed out a flaw, ‘The Kicking Machine’ feels he is far better than the champion. Let us take a look at what he had to say about the upcoming fight. 

Superlek Kiatmoo9 isn’t quite bothered about the hype surrounding Haggerty 

It was the year 2018 when both fighters collided for the first time against each other. Neither of them was part of ONE Championship at that time. The fight ended abruptly after Haggerty faced a cut over his eye, which forced the doctors to stop the fight. Since then, a lot has changed in the careers of both Superlek and Haggerty, but the hunger to face each other one more time is still there. After Superlek won the fight, he made it clear that he was unhappy with the result and was waiting to beat Haggerty in a proper manner. He will now have the opportunity to do so when he takes him on in Denver. 

Superlek knows that the two-sport champion will be his most formidable opponent to date. However, the Thai superstar believes he is better than ‘The General’ and can win his clash. ONE Championship recently shared a video on their Instagram page where ‘The Kicking Machine’ claimed that Haggerty will not be a tough fight for him. He said, “Is Haggerty a tough fight? I don’t think so. There are so many fighters who are better than him. So many. And I believe I’m better than Haggerty.” Superlek also made it clear that he is now eyeing the Muay Thai title next, as he is already one of the most decorated fighters in the sport.

Do you think Superlek Kiatmoo9 can dethrone Jonathan Haggerty to claim the Muay Thai belt? Let us know about it in the comments below.