“Once I beat Lobo, Akimoto it is” – Jonathan Haggerty wants to defend his kickboxing strap against Hiroki Akimoto next

Following his win over Fabricio Andrade at ONE Fight Night 16, two-sport world champion Jonathan Haggerty was being lined up for a quick return.

When he was unable to fight Felipe Lobo in December due to other commitments that needed attending to, there were talk of the British striker heading to Japan.

‘The General’ was asked during a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA whether he was close to fighting Hiroki Akimoto in Japan for ONE 165 last month.

ONE Championship’s huge return to the region was already stacked with big fights and iconic competitors, but a bantamweight kickboxing title clash would have elevated it even further.

While the fight didn’t happen on that occasion, he did say that the clash with Akimoto is likely to be next so that he can defend his kickboxing title.

During fight week for ONE Fight Night 19, Haggerty said:

“Yeah, that’ll be probably next. I want to defend my kickboxing belt so once I beat Lobo, Akimoto it is.”

Watch the full interview below:

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Jonathan Haggerty must get past Felipe Lobo first before moving on to the next challenge

There are a lot of exciting options out there for Jonathan Haggerty now that he reigns supreme across two different divisions in the bantamweight weight class.

That being said, before fans can get too carried away by the prospect of seeing the British striker take on competitors in both Muay Thai and kickboxing, he has to defeat Felipe Lobo.

The Brazilian is set to be his first Muay Thai title challenger when the two men finally square off on February 16 at ONE Fight Night 19.

Many are expecting the champion to come through this one with his belts still intact but Lobo will have different plans in mind ahead of the biggest fight of his career.

ONE Fight Night 19 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.