ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty is planning for a “demolition job” when he defends his belt against Chinese veteran Wei Rui at ONE 171: Qatar on Thursday, February 20.
Haggerty and Wei Rui meet in the main event of ONE Championship’s upcoming event ONE 171: Qatar inside the state-of-the-art Lusail Sports Arena.
After suffering a knockout defeat against Superlek Kiatmoo9 that cost him his ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai belt, Haggerty is ready to bounce back against another world-class opponent.
But while the British star, nicknamed “The General”, credits his Chinese challenger, who enters the fight riding an incredible 21-fight winning streak and after a debut win against former divisional champion Hiroki Akimoto, he is confident he will leave Qatar with the belt wrapped around his waist.
“I’m going from the pound-for-pound best in Superlek to another world-class striker in Wei Rui, so I certainly rate him. He beat Hiroki Akimoto, who is great opposition in his own right. So we are not taking him lightly. But we do think we can do a demolition job on him for sure,” Haggerty said.
In Qatar, Haggerty will defend his ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing world championship for the first time since beating MMA king Fabricio Andrade. The 27-year-old champion beat his Brazilian foe back in November 2023 through patiently gathering information in the first round and picking up the pace in the second round in which he would eventually find the knockout.
For his upcoming task against the Chinese veteran, he is envisioning a similar scenario to the one that allowed him to pick up the vacant world title.
“I feel confident that I can put on a spectacular performance. I want to go down the same route as I did against Andrade, so I’m thinking a second-round stoppage. I’m coming to show everyone why I’m still the best in the world,” Haggerty said.
ONE 171: Qatar kicks off at 5PM Mecca on Thursday, February 20 and will be broadcast live via beIN SPORTS.
