Jonathan Haggerty retained his ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title with a corner stoppage of Hiroki Akimoto in the main event of ONE SAMURAI 4 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on October 17, according to ONE Championship's official result report. The fight ended at 42 seconds into round three after Haggerty landed a right hand followed by a knee that dropped Akimoto; after Akimoto beat the count and absorbed another flurry of strikes, his corner threw in the towel.
It was Haggerty's third successful defense of the belt and kept him unbeaten across his ONE kickboxing career, improving his overall striking record to 25-5, the promotion said. He also collected a $100,000 performance bonus for the win, a detail corroborated by MiddleEasy's fight recap.
A rematch with a former champion
Akimoto, a former ONE bantamweight kickboxing champion himself, challenged on home soil seeking to reclaim the title he had previously held. Saturday's stoppage extended Haggerty's hold on the division and denied Akimoto's bid to recapture it in front of a Tokyo crowd.
What's next
ONE Championship has not announced Haggerty's next opponent. His continued unbeaten run in kickboxing, now three defenses deep, keeps him atop the bantamweight division as the promotion plans further events in Japan.
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