As a fellow legend of the sport, Liam Harrison has a lot of time and respect for the iconic career of Nong-O Hama.
The former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion has got a track record that can match up with any striker in the world and his dominant championship reign backed that up.
His time at the top of the bantamweight division came to a shocking end last year, when he was stopped by Jonathan Haggerty at ONE Fight Night 9.
Looking to bounce back at ONE Friday Fights 46, he faced surging contender Nico Carrillo. Unfortunately, he was once again defeated in emphatic fashion.
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Harrison told the South China Morning Post that he found the Carrillo contest difficult to watch as an admirer of the former champion.
‘The Hitman’ suggested that the Thai veteran shouldn’t be mixing it up with the new blood in the division at this stage in his career:
“I hope he doesn't take any fights against any of these youngsters like that anymore because I don't want to see him get knocked out like that. It's not nice to see when you're watching a legend get knocked out and after especially everything that he's done for the sport and the run he’s had as a champion, what he did in the stadiums.”
Watch the full interview below:
Liam Harrison has one eye on retirement after taking a look at where he is at in his career
It’s hard for strikers like Liam Harrison and Nong-O Hama to see the bigger picture when their whole lives have been spent training and competing at the highest level.
No one wants to imagine a world where neither man is still competing but all good things must come to an end, and that’s something Harrison is acutely aware of.
The Brit has spoken about his curtain call in recent times and how he hopes to face off with a legend in Seksan for his final contest.
While he didn’t call for Nong-O to do the same, Harrison did seemingly hint at the fact that maybe it is time for the former champion to plan out his exit route from his beloved Muay Thai.