Jonathan Haggerty walked away from The Inner Circle 30 with plenty to celebrate after watching his younger brother, Freddie Haggerty, script one of the most polished performances of his budding career.
The ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion spent Friday, September 11 in the corner of his sibling, who outclassed Thai star Rungruanglek TN Muaythai in a strawweight Muay Thai contest inside Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Stadium.
The 22-year-old British destroyer picked his rival apart across three rounds – controlling range, walking the Thai down, and hunting a finish that ultimately never materialised.
However, the performance, per Jonathan, was a clear step up from anything Freddie had produced in ONE Championship so far. He shared his honest read:
“It was a great performance. It was pushing for the stoppage, but we didn’t get it. It is what it is. It’s all love; it’s a learning curve. In this sport, you can never stop learning, so we’ll go back to the drawing board. [We will] work on things that didn’t work and get better each time.”
Rushing the finish is exactly how promising young fighters get themselves into trouble at this level of the sport.
Freddie’s willingness to stay patient, even as the pressure of chasing a knockout mounted across nine minutes of action in Bangkok, is precisely the kind of maturity that carries fighters toward world championship contention, after all. Jonathan pointed out:
“I wasn’t disappointed that he didn’t get the knockout because if you go for the knockout too much, you rush, and things might not go your way.”
Jonathan Haggerty proud of how the family blueprint continues to evolve
Jonathan has spent years honing his own world-class pedigree, and the influence of that daily grind is clearly rubbing off on his younger brother.
Freddie’s disciplined display at The Inner Circle 30 was proof that the mentorship happening inside the Team Underground and Knowlesy Academy walls is paying off, and the elder Haggerty fully intends to keep sharpening the family blueprint every single camp.
He has always spoken about how meaningful it is to have his brother beside him inside the same gym, and the pride he carries after each Freddie performance only reinforces their brotherhood.
Jonathan said:
“I’m happy with his discipline, the way he stepped back, picked him off. We’ll get the stuff [sorted] for sure. We always get better. Every performance we do, we do better.”
