Coming to America: Jonathan Haggerty Set to Headline ONE 168 Card in Denver

September 4, 2024

8 months

The ONE 168 card was supposed to be another opportunity for the promotion to show off women’s strawweight world champion Stamp Fairtext in the United States. But Stamp, who is known for her energetic ring walks where she dances to the cage, suffered a serious knee injury in May and had to pull out of the event. Instead, the crowd at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday will get an opportunity to see Jonathan Haggerty defend his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai championship against Superlek Kiatmoo9.

While neither Haggerty nor Superlek will have name recognition among the American audience, this is a chance for them to make a name for themselves. When the two fighters previously met, MMAfighting latest news shows that Haggerty lost in the second round via doctor stoppage due to a cut at the Yokkao 31 & 32 event in the United Kingdom.

Since then, Haggerty has moved on to ONE and found great success in the promotion. He became a multi-sport champion, winning the bantamweight crown in Muay Thai and kickboxing. Superlek has also found that ONE was the perfect place to reach his title aspirations.

Superlek won the ONE flyweight kickboxing world championship in December 2022 and has defended the belt six times. But Superlek has done a good job of taking on all comers. Superlek has ONE’s longest winning streak in the promotion at nine fights.

Lineker Seeks Out New Challenge

Coming to America: Jonathan Haggerty Set to Headline ONE 168 Card in Denver 1

John Lineker was long known as one of the most powerful punchers in MMA. But the Brazilian fighter and former ONE bantamweight MMA champion knows fighting in Muay Thai will be another challenge. While Lineker never fought for a belt in the UFC, he was a respected veteran and stayed with the promotion for a few years.

Lineker has never stepped out of his MMA comfort zone, however. During the ONE event this weekend, he will be tasked with trying to beat Asa Ten Pow. Asa won’t be a fighter who Lineker should be comfortable against, according to boxing updates tonight.

During Asa’s time in ONE, he has produced a 2-1 record, and all of his fights have ended inside of the distance. While Asa doesn’t have as much experience on the big stage, his striking ability should trouble Lineker.

Expect an explosive fight where both fighters seek to bring it to an early conclusion.

Harrison Plans to Enjoy Time in Ring

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Liam Harrison has a more zen attitude toward his first professional Muay Thai fight in a little under two years. Harrison hasn’t even come up with a game plan for how to attack Seksan Or. Kwanmuang. Part of the new attitude comes from appreciating having the ability to fight again.

During Harrison’s last fight, he suffered a serious knee injury after losing in the first round following a stiff leg kick from Nong-O Gaiyanghadao in Kallang, Singapore, at ONE on Prime Video 1. Before the loss in a fight with the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai world championship on the line, Harrison had won his previous five fights.

Seksan is also coming off a loss in his last fight. While Seksan has only had five months off of competition, he is used to fighting at a wild pace. During 2023, Seksan competed in ONE eight times and won each fight.

That certainly doesn’t seem sustainable over the length of someone’s career.

Anderson Ready to Return After Major Health Scare

Alyse Anderson is happy to finally be getting back to fighting. She has been out of the ring for over a year following a serious health scare last year. Anderson had to go to the hospital after internal bleeding from an internal cyst left her doubled over in pain.

Anderson, who is 6-3 in her MMA career, is hoping to work her way back up the ONE atomweight ladder when she fights Victoria Souza. Souza is coming off her biggest win in ONE. During Souza’s last fight, she was able to wrap up Itsuki Hirata in a guillotine choke for her first win by stoppage in over two years.

Anderson will want to push the pace on Souza and try to make life difficult for her. Anderson also will be motivated by fighting in front of her home nation.

Aung La N Sang Wants to Prove What He Has Left

Aung La N Sang has proven a lot of what he can offer in the ONE ring. During his career, he has picked up two MMA championships in different divisions. But the 19-fight veteran needs some strong results if he wants to be discussed in that category again.

Aung La has already started to lay the foundation. He has picked up three consecutive wins by finish. Aung La has always shown that he is more than capable of picking up impressive results. He is 14-3 in ONE and has finished 86 percent of his victories.

Aung La hopes a win over undefeated Turkish fighter Shamil Erdogan will allow him to earn a shot at fighting three-division champion Anatoly Malykhin. Erdogan has only made one walk to the ONE ring, but it was an impressive performance.

Erdogan knocked out Chinese fighter Fan Rong in the second round of their fight in June of 2023. While the Turkish fighter is noted for his power and all-around game, taking on Aung La will be a different level of challenge. Erdogan only has one fight in ONE Championship and mostly fought on the regional scene before this. Expect some fireworks from both fighters in this bout.

Here are other fights scheduled for the card not mentioned above: