Harrison vows ‘to shock the world’ against Nong-O
The rewards of Liam Harrison’s rousing comeback against Muangthai P.K. Saenchai at ONE Championship 156 last month in Singapore have already been plentiful.
The victory earned him not one but two post-fight bonuses – for a total of US$100,000 – some of which he has spent on holiday with his fiancée in Jamaica.
Yet the 36-year-old Briton insists he is “not doing this for money”. His motivation has always been world titles, and after his latest highlight-reel win, he has been promised the opportunity to fight for one.
Now ranked No 5 in ONE’s bantamweight Muay Thai rankings, he is expected to receive the next crack at division champion, Nong-O Gaiyanghadao.
“The win has put me in a position that I’ve longed to be in ever since I was signed by ONE Championship, and that’s to be next in line for a shot at the title, which is pretty massive for me, to be honest,” Harrison said.
“I was speaking to [ONE chief executive Chatri Sityodtong] about it and we talked about August. August will work good for me.”
Nong-O is not your typical champion. The 35-year-old Thai has defended his belt five times since he won it in 2019, further cementing himself as one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters on the planet – or, as Harrison puts it, “one of the greatest fighters of this generation”.
Needless to say, Harrison recognises the scale of the challenge ahead.
“He’s an incredible fighter,” Harrison said. “He’s got great eyes, great balance, a great kick. Disgusting power. He’s wiped the floor with literally everybody he’s come up with in this division.”
Still, Harrison is confident he can put an end to the Thai’s hot streak with a knockout.
“The thing is with Nong-O, if you make one mistake or you give him any sort of opening, he’ll knock you clean out,” he said.
“But the beauty of this sport is I hit just as hard as Nong-O, if not harder.
“He’s fought some really good guys, don’t get me wrong – some great fighters – but none of them were as fast as me, none of them were as sharp as me, none of them hit as hard as me. And I don’t think any of them want it as bad as I do.
“He will have to knock me spark out for me to stop coming forward at him.”
Even after his thrilling comeback against Muangthai, Harrison senses that he is already being counted out in his planned match-up with Nong-O.
He cautions fight fans against doubting him.
“Everyone’s writing me off already, which I love,” he said.
“I love it when I keep reading people saying ‘Liam’s got no chance, Liam’s not good enough, Liam’s too old’, because that just gives me more fuel. It puts more petrol on the fire.
“I can’t wait to shock the world and prove everyone wrong. I want this more than anything.
I’ve worked my whole career to put myself in this position now. I’m not going to lie down. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
Less than a minute and a half into his fight with Muangthai, Harrison found himself on the brink of defeat. He had already been knocked down twice by his Thai opponent, and a third trip to the canvas would have resulted in a TKO loss.
It was about as bad as things can get in a Muay Thai fight, but Harrison never lost focus.
“I just thought, ‘there’s nothing to lose here’,” he said. “I know how hard I hit. I know I only need to land one clean shot to either knock them out or put them in a position where it’s going to change the fight totally. So I just kept saying to myself ‘find the gap for one’.”
“I knew he was going to rush in, so I was just looking for that one gap that I needed.”
Less than 30 seconds after hitting the deck for a second time, Harrison found the gap he was looking for, and scored a knockdown of his own. He did it with a right hand, and recognised right away he had hurt his foe far more than he had been hurt himself.
So he kept the pressure on and scored two more knock-downs to win the fight – all before the first three-minute round ended.