Second-ranked bantamweight MMA contender Stephen “The Sniper” Loman can’t wait to see two of the best strikers on the planet go at it when Jonathan “The General” Haggerty defends his ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship against flyweight king Superlek “The Kicking Machine” Kiatmoo9.
The super-fight takes place in the main event of ONE 168: Denver inside Ball Arena in Colorado on September 7, and Loman expects someone to go down.
“That will be a really exciting fight because both are great fighters, and they’ll finally stand against each other. We’ll see who will be knocked out,” he said.
While Superlek is the one moving up in weight, Loman doesn’t see the Thai superstar struggling in the division.
The Lions Nation representative looks at Superlek’s physique and weight in his fights at flyweight to judge how the Kiatmoo9 representative will look in this bigger weight class.
“I think Superlek already walks at a heavier weight than the flyweight limit. He’s also a tall fighter, so when he gains weight, it won’t be a problem for him. If he goes up a division, it’s like that’s already his normal weight. He won’t be cutting weight anymore,” Loman said.
“He won’t cut weight, and that’s already his normal weight to fight. So, it’s like he’s already in the perfect condition to fight at bantamweight,” he added.
“I think he’ll be even stronger and be in better condition at bantamweight instead of his usual flyweight.”
For Loman, Haggerty’s fast and powerful hands versus Superlek’s forward pressure and toughness could sway this match in either direction.
“Haggerty’s a fast striker, a fast boxer, and he has really dangerous front kicks. Superlek, meanwhile, can absorb those hits, and he has that forward pressure,” he said.
“Whoever makes a mistake will go down or will be in deep trouble. Whoever gets clocked with a critical strike first will surely lose in this one.”
But forced to shell out his prediction, he’s sticking with the champion to retain.
“Well, both are fast strikers, but I’ll go with Haggerty because he throws so many combinations, and he has really heavy hands. I think those are the advantages Haggerty has over Superlek,” he said.
“Superlek will try to catch every combination Haggerty throws, so let’s see how much punishment he can absorb in this fight.”
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