Fabricio Andrade and Jonathan Haggerty will meet in a bantamweight kickboxing title fight in Bangkok on October 6th. The fight was announced by Chatri Sityodtong earlier today.
The belt is vacant because former champion Petchtanong Banchamek was stripped of the title after failing a drug test. Both Andrade and Haggerty were crowned as champions in different sports earlier this year.
Andrade won the bantamweight MMA belt after stopping John Lineker at ONE Fight Night 6. He has yet to defend that title but has plenty of kickboxing experience and fought ten times for Kunlun Fight.
Haggerty became the bantamweight Muay Thai champion when he stopped Nong-O Gaiyanghadao at ONE Fight Night 6. He had previously held the flyweight belt but doesn’t appear to have any kickboxing experience.
Long wait
It means Stephen Loman’s long wait for a shot at Andrade’s MMA title is set to continue. The #2 ranked bantamweight is believed to be next in line for a shot at the Brazilian.
Loman is on an 11 fight winning streak and has won three out of three for ONE Championship. But the bantamweight title has been tied up with Andrade’s first match with Lineker ending in a no contest, necessitating a rematch.
Reports in the Philippines suggest that Loman has been penciled in to face Andrade at the end of the year. Regardless of the outcome he will be hoping the Brazilian emerges from his kickboxing title match unscathed.
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All Thai
Meanwhile Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym will be putting his featherweight Muay Thai title on the line at ONE Fight Night 15. He faces fellow Thai Superbon Banchamek on October 7th.
While Superbon has been focused on kickboxing for the past seven years Tawanchai is one of the top pound for pound Muay Thai fighters in the world. He has beaten some of the biggest names in the division and been on a particularly impressive run of his own with ONE Championship.
Tawanchai will be making the second defence of the title he won last year. Meanwhile Superbon went on an incredible run that saw him beat Sittichai Sitsongpeenong, Giorgio Petrosyan and Marat Grigorian.
ONE Fight Night 15, Bangkok, October 6th
Kickboxing: Jonathan Haggerty vs. Fabricio Andrade (For vacant bantamweight belt)
Muay Thai: Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym (c) vs. Superbon Banchamek (For featherweight belt)
