Liam Harrison says smaller fighters in the Openweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix will have it tough - “It will not be pretty”

Liam Harrison is officially ruling himself out of ONE Championship’s historic Openweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix tournament.

Earlier this year, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced the Openweight tournament will feature a bracket of 16 fighters from different weight classes vying for a $1 million prize. Fans immediately began dreaming about a plethora of fantasy matchups that were suddenly possible. Unfortunately, one fighter you can rule out of the equation is Harrison, who has no interest in competing against fighters that outweigh him by over 50 pounds.

“I’ve seen some of the smaller fighters go ‘Yeah, I’ll do it I’ll fight anyone’ that’s just all talk,” Harrison told The MMA Superfan. “We all know what would happen if someone from my division has to fight someone from that division. It will not be pretty.”

‘Hitman’ went on to say:

“I mean fair play if they do wanna get in there and try. I’m not that stupid.”

Liam Harrison is currently on the shelf rehabilitating from knee surgery earlier this year. At one point ‘Hitman’ was attached to an exhibition bout with boxing icon Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather at the O2 Arena in London. Unfortunately, the injury kept him from accepting the offer, but the British striker hopes to revisit the opportunity once fully healed and training at 100%.

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Liam Harrison is yet to spend the $100,000 bonus he earned for his Comeback of the Year performance

Last April, Liam Harrison delivered one of the greatest comebacks in combat sports history. Squaring off with former Lumpinee Muay Thai world champion Muangthai PK.Saenchai at ONE 156, ‘Hitman’ was on the edge of defeat after suffering back-to-back knockdowns in the first round.

Knowing it was essentially do-or-die, Harrison turned up the heat and went on the attack, overloading Muangthai with a series of strikes that sent him crashing to the canvas. Operating on pure adrenaline, ‘Hitman’ stayed on the attack and delivered two more quick knockdowns to secure a win in a match that would eventually be crowned ONE Championship’s Comeback of the Year. The victory also secured Harrison a rare $100,000 bonus that he is yet to spend.

“I haven't even touched it, yeah, to be honest,” Harrison admitted. “One of my friends, he's got early onset Parkinson's. I donated a little bit to him for treatment. Other than that, I've not used any of it, not any of it. I'm just going to save it for a rainy day.”