TLDR
- Jonathan Haggerty retained his ONE bantamweight kickboxing title by stopping Hiroki Akimoto in the third round at ONE SAMURAI 4 in Tokyo
- Akimoto’s manager claims Haggerty used illegal knee strikes by holding and pulling his opponent, which is prohibited in kickboxing rules
- The camp says the referee gave no warnings during the finishing sequence despite two alleged violations
- ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong initially defended the finish but acknowledged he had not reviewed the footage yet
- Akimoto suffered a nasal fracture and a cut to the bridge of his nose and is focusing on recovery
Sources: middleeasy.com | bangkokpost.com | onefc.com
Hiroki Akimoto’s management team has requested an official review of his title fight loss to Jonathan Haggerty at ONE SAMURAI 4 in Tokyo on Saturday. The team claims that Haggerty used illegal knee strikes during the bout by holding and pulling his opponent.
Haggerty retained his ONE bantamweight kickboxing title after stopping Akimoto at 42 seconds of the third round at Ariake Arena. The British champion earned a $100,000 performance bonus for his third successful title defense.
Ugh oh… 👀
Hiroki Akimoto 🇯🇵 posted a very strong statement on instagram a short time ago.
He lost by 3rd round TKO to Jonathan Haggerty 🏴 earlier on today at ONE Samurai 4.
Here’s what he had to say:
“Thank you all so much for your support.
After the fight, the… pic.twitter.com/MymOK3Iyxw
— EsrMuayThai (@esrmuaythai) October 17, 2026
Akimoto’s manager released statements on Instagram questioning the legality of Haggerty’s knee strikes. “This was a kickboxing bout, not a Muay Thai bout,” the manager wrote in an English version of the statement.
Claims of Rule Violations
The manager argues that holding an opponent and pulling them into knee strikes is prohibited under ONE Championship’s kickboxing rules. The team says these rules were explained clearly before the fight.
“There was no warning from the referee when the first knee strike delivered while holding the opponent caused a knockdown,” the manager wrote in Japanese. “A similar action occurred a second time immediately afterwards, but there was no warning then either.”
The statements specifically cited ONE’s Global Kickboxing Rule Set for the cage. The camp did not specify whether a formal appeal against the result had been submitted.
ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong addressed questions about the finish at the post-event press conference. “I haven’t had time to review the footage yet. But I thought it was a clean knockout,” he said according to a translation of a Japanese report.
Sityodtong’s initial assessment was that the knee had traveled straight through to the head. He said this was the case regardless of whether Haggerty’s hand had touched Akimoto.
The Fight Sequence
Haggerty opened the fight with high volume striking but Akimoto found his rhythm and landed hooks that shook the British champion. The second round featured a flying knee from Haggerty that sent Akimoto into the cage fence.
Akimoto responded with a superman punch that snapped Haggerty’s head back. The Japanese fighter came out firing in the third round but Haggerty landed a right hand followed by a knee that sent Akimoto to the canvas.
Akimoto beat the count but Haggerty followed with more punches and another knee. Akimoto’s corner threw in the towel to stop the fight.
At the post-event press conference, Haggerty explained his strategy. He said he initially wanted to hurt Akimoto with punches after working with his boxing coach.
Haggerty planned to counter Akimoto’s body kicks with punches but ultimately returned to using knees. “My knees are my new elbows,” Haggerty said, adding he intended to keep using them until returning to Muay Thai.
Akimoto was diagnosed with a nasal fracture and a cut to the bridge of his nose. His manager called for footage review to assess the relationship between the alleged rule violations and his injuries.
The defeat ended Akimoto’s three-fight winning streak against John Lineker, Wei Rui, and Taimu Hisai. The 34-year-old had earned another chance to reclaim the title he lost to Petchtanong Petchfergus in November 2022.
Haggerty improved to 25-5 and remains unbeaten in kickboxing. The 29-year-old from London previously held two ONE Championship titles simultaneously.
Akimoto’s manager said the fighter is concentrating on treatment and recovery. The team stressed that protecting fighter safety and fair competition are their priorities and asked for “a fair ruling based on the rules, without being bound by past precedents.”
