ONE Championship: Chinese fighter Wei Rei loses on points in Jonathan Haggerty title fight
Englishman Haggerty came into the fight on the back of a devastating loss but grew into the contest to secure the victory
Wei Rui came up short in his bantamweight kickboxing title fight against Jonathan Haggerty at ONE 171 at Lusail Arena, Qatar on Thursday.
Haggerty came into the fight off a devastating knockout loss at the hands of Superlek Kiatmoo9 last year, which saw him relinquish the belt – and the Englishman produced a slow start, which he attributed afterwards to a dent in his self-confidence.
Wei fired off quick combinations of punches and elbows to kick off the bout and looked set to hand Haggerty his second consecutive loss.
But was nothing more than a highlight for Wei, who was second best for the remainder of the fight. Haggerty made a much more confident start to the second round and landed a glancing head kick before scoring with some step-in knees.
In the third, Haggerty began landing with his trademark right hand, snapping back the head of the Chinese southpaw. Wei attempted to pick up the pace in the fourth with punches to the head and kicks to the Englishman’s body and legs, but ate another right hand.
Haggerty landed a teep to his opponent’s face followed by another to the midsection which put the Chinese fighter on his backside in the final seconds of the fourth round. It left Wei looking for a knockdown in the final round, which never looked likely and Haggerty was handed a unanimous decision win.