Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Jonathan Haggerty title rematch set for ONE: A New Tomorrow

A 2019 fight of the year contender will be run back at the start of the new year.

ONE Championship announced on Wednesday, Dec. 4 that flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon will put his belt on the line against the former champion Jonathan Haggerty at ONE: A New Tomorrow on Friday, Jan. 10.

The bout will be the first fight back for Haggerty since their first meeting which took place in August in the co-main event of ONE: Dawn of Heroes.

“Going to beat him like I did the 1st time,” Haggerty wrote in his Instagram post announcing the bout. “Anyone that knows me personally knows how much this means to me.. thank you [ONE Championship] for giving me this opportunity. Now time to go get my belt back.”

That fight was Haggerty’s first scheduled defense of his title after he dethroned Sam-A Gaiyanghadao with a five-round decision victory. The win was just Haggerty’s second fight under the ONE Championship banner, the first being a three-round decision victory over Joseph Lasiri at ONE: Eternal Glory in January of 2019.

Jitmuangnon entered the bout on a tear. He was riding a five-fight winning streak overall and was coming off of a second-round TKO victory of Sok Thy in May of 2019 to earn his shot at the belt.

The fight itself was a back-and-forth war that ultimately saw Jitmuangnon escape with a majority decision victory and the flyweight title.

Since that bout, Jitmuangnon has fought three times. He competed twice outside of ONE, beating Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang by decision in both of their fights in August and September.

Jitmuangnon returned to ONE in October to defend his belt at ONE: Century Part 2. He successfully retained his belt with a split-decision win over Walter Goncalves, setting up this rematch with Haggerty.

ONE: A New Tomorrow is the first event of 2020 for the promotion. The bouts confirmed for the card are as follows: