Jonathan Haggerty is once again targeting Fabricio Andrade’s ONE Championship bantamweight MMA title – promising to pursue his long-standing goal of becoming the promotion’s first three-sport world champion at the same time.

The 28-year-old British fighter makes his comeback at ONE 173 in Tokyo on November 16, competing against Nabil Anane for the bantamweight Muay Thai title.

Triumph, he stated, would rekindle his effort to achieve the legendary triple.

I can envision a [Fabricio] Andrade showdown for the MMA world title next – let’s go,’ Haggerty said to the Bangkok Post. ‘I aim to be the three-sport champion in a row and hold all three belts simultaneously, and it begins on November 16. We will reclaim the Muay Thai belt, and who knows – we’ll find out. But the future looks promising, and I’m thrilled about it.

Haggerty claimed both the Muay Thai and kickboxing bantamweight championships in 2023, with the latter victory coming against Andrade when the title was open, during a contentious rivalry.

He then sought a challenge for the Brazilian’s MMA title — but instead successfully defended his Muay Thai championship twice, defeating Felipe Lobo before relinquishing it to Superlek in Denver last September.

The Londoner acknowledged that his current attention is strongly directed towards Anane, but mentioned he would be open to a direct jump into MMA championship competition afterwards.

Let’s go straight for the MMA title — no preliminary match in MMA,” he said. “Listen, I’m concentrating on Nabil, the challenge that lies ahead. We need to wait and see how things develop, but the primary objective right now is to beat Nabil and regain the world championship.

Andrade, set to defend his MMA title against Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu at ONE Fight Night 38 in December, mentioned to the Bangkok Post that he is willing to face the opponent—but believes Haggerty should gain more experience in MMA first.

I just want to fight—doesn’t matter who it is,” Andrade stated. “If he begins competing in MMA, he could become a possible opponent, no issue.

I believe it would be beneficial to create this fight if he starts with an MMA bout first. If he hasn’t competed in MMA before, you can’t just jump straight into a title match. They could assign him an opponent, and he could make his debut, making it much easier to proceed.

Maybe John Lineker – that could be a challenging match for him, as Lineker is very effective with takedowns.

For the time being, Haggerty’s attention is on regaining the Muay Thai title he previously possessed. However, a victory in Tokyo might pave the way for one of ONE’s most ambitious inter-disciplinary confrontations yet.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

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