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Jonathan Haggerty plans to lean on hard-earned experience against Hiroki Akimoto at ONE SAMURAI 4

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3 weeks ago

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Jonathan Haggerty plans to lean on hard-earned experience against Hiroki Akimoto at ONE SAMURAI 4
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Fighter sues Jake Paul, MVP for $10 million after traumatic brain injury
ONE Championship

In January 2019, a 21-year-old newcomer walked out in Jakarta with everything to prove. Nearly eight years later, he heads to Tokyo as a two-sport legend defending gold.

Jonathan Haggerty defends his ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title against former divisional king Hiroki Akimoto at ONE SAMURAI 4 on Saturday, October 17. The contest broadcasts live from Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

The Briton opened his ONE account against Joseph Lasiri at ONE: ETERNAL GLORY, then stunned Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in his second outing to claim the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title. Two losses to Rodtang Jitmuangnon followed before he left flyweight behind entirely.

The breakthrough came in April 2023, when he became the first athlete on the global stage to finish Nong-O Hama, taking the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title. Months later, he knocked out Fabricio Andrade to capture the vacant kickboxing crown as well.

Superlek eventually took the Muay Thai belt, but the kickboxing title has stayed his. He defended it against Wei Rui at ONE 171: Qatar in February 2025 and against Yuki Yoza at ONE SAMURAI 1 this past April.

“What separates me is probably experience. I've been there. I've been in the five-round world title fights. I've been up against the best in the division, the best in the organization. The lights, the cameras, I'm used to it now,†Haggerty said.

“I've been in everybody's backyard, defended the belt, lost the belt, won it back. I think it's been a lot of character building for me as well.â€

Jonathan Haggerty credits relentless work ethic

Haggerty does not attribute his success to talent or luck. The 29-year-old points to a simple formula he has followed since his earliest days in the sport.

Akimoto offers a stern test of whether that formula still holds.

“I put it all down to hard work. Hard work, dedication, the will to learn, the will to win, and leaving no stone unturned. I train as hard as I possibly can. Like, you wouldn't believe,†Haggerty said.

“[This] means everything to me, so getting in there and winning it and winning, getting my hand raised, means a lot at the end.â€

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jacksons $7 million claim

Published

5 hours ago

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October 30, 2026

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Paulo Costa slams UFC pay after Rampage Jackson's $7 million claim
Paulo
Costa has renewed his criticism of fighter pay in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A resurfaced clip shows UFC middleweight champion Sean
Strickland asking former light heavyweight champion Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson about his biggest UFC payday. Jackson said he
earned $7 million, including pay-per-view compensation, for
fighting Chuck
Liddell. Costa contrasted that figure with his estimate of what
a current UFC fighter earns.

Paulo Costa compares Rampage Jackson’s claimed $7 million
payday with estimated Raoni Barcelos earnings

Jackson attributed the payday to a contract he signed with World
Fighting Alliance, where he said his manager also had a promotional
role. According to Jackson, the deal included lucrative
pay-per-view terms that the UFC inherited when its parent company
acquired WFA assets in December 2006.

“$7 million, Chuck Liddell, that was pay-per-view, though,†Jackson
told Strickland. “I left
Pride. My manager, he became like the manager of the show. So,
he knew exactly that it was his biggest deal. They didn't want to
have pay-per-view, so he gave me a crazy pay-per-view deal. Then
Dana White bought WFA and had to honor my pay-per-view deal.â€

Costa compared Jackson's account with Raoni
Barcelos' stoppage loss to Raul Rosas
Jr. last month. Barcelos, 39, lost consciousness during a
fifth-round grappling exchange. Costa speculated that Barcelos
earned between $80,000 and $100,000, contrasting that estimate with
Jackson's claimed earnings from his 2007 victory over Liddell.

“UFC paid Rampage 7 million to fight Chuck what is comprehensive,â€
Costa wrote on X. “Not comparing fighters relevance but comparing
it with Barcelos x Rosas Jr 5 rds and had serious injuries on brain
damage, made 80k~100k ?? Raoni Barcelos is around 40s and probably
retired due to that injury.â€

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MMA

Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton

Published

17 hours ago

on

October 29, 2026

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Video shows police officer slamming spectator at UFC Edmonton
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship's recent visit to Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, featured action inside and outside the
Octagon.

Police intervene in Rogers Place crowd altercation during UFC
Edmonton

Every bout at
UFC Edmonton except the co-main event ended in a finish. But a
crowd altercation at Rogers Place on Oct. 17 also drew
attention.

Video circulating on social media appears to show a police officer
lifting a man and slamming him to the floor as officers intervene
in the altercation. The man appears to lose consciousness after the
impact.

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MMA

GFL announces new signings for December relaunch in Argentina

Published

19 hours ago

on

October 29, 2026

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GFL announces new signings for December relaunch in Argentina

The Global Fight League is expected to relaunch in December and the organization has announced its opening roster of fighters for the Buenos Aires Gauchos team.

This past weekend, the GFL announced it will hold its inaugural event on Dec. 18 at Club Atletico Lanus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the Gauchos taking on fighters from the Miami Monsters. Now, the league has begun to name the fighters who will compete for the Gauchos, which you can see in the list below.

Middleweight: Dante Romero (9-8)

Welterweight: Matias Ponce (12-5, 1 NC)

Lightweight: Franco Rios (4-0)

Lightweight: Thomas Juarez (6-2)

Featherweight: Lionel Abojer (12-4)

Featherweight: Eduardo Cajal (9-5)

Bantamweight: Ryan Martinez (9-1)

Flyweight: Nicolas Rodriguez (9-3)

More fighters are expected to be announced, including the roster for the Monsters.

Former UFC title contender and longtime MMA veteran Marlon Moraes was recently added to the Miami roster, but MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz has learned from sources with knowledge of the event that Moraes will not be competing on the Dec. 18 card.

It is not yet known exactly how the team vs. team format will work, but the league has shared its scoring system for future events:

The GFL made headlines in 2025 with lofty promises in regards to athlete compensation and the signing of numerous MMA stars and veterans including , including former UFC champions Tyron Woodley, Chris Weidman, Luke Rockhold, Anthony Pettis, and Holly Holm, but has failed to produce an event thus far. Initially, the league was supposed to hold a pair of shows on May 24 and May 25 in 2025, only for those events to be later cancelled.

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