Bantamweight slugger Liam Harrison may be recovering from knee surgery, but that was not going to stop him from taking in ONE Fight Night 10 earlier in May. The Brit came stateside and took in ONE Championship’s U.S. debut in person. Suffice it to say, Harrison was blown away.
Liam Harrison Reacts to ONE Fight Night 10, Calls Out Haggerty
“I loved being out there and being a part of it, doing all the media stuff. It was nice, even though I wasn’t fighting myself, to still be around the show and just be a part of it all, especially for the first one in the U.S. The atmosphere was a bit different than any other show. I could tell everyone was just that bit more excited. Everyone was going to go that bit extra with their performances. I could even tell all the officials were more excited, too,” Harrison told ONE.
Although there were Muay Thai bangers on the card, it was the welterweight MMA bout that caught Harrison’s eye the most. Former ONE Welterweight World Champion Zebaztian Kadestam shocked the martial arts community with a cracking knockout over Roberto Soldic in the second round. The crowd exploded, and Kadestam stamped his ticket to a future title shot.
It was a welcome sight for Harrison, who was cheering on his longtime ONE friend. His joy was on full display in an Instagram video the company posted that night. The Brit later discussed why he was happy to see the Swedish star get the win and how impressed he was with his durability.
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“My favorite fight was Zebaztian Kadestam vs. Roberto Soldic. Kadestam is a friend of mine. We fought on a few of the same shows, and I like spending time with him. He’s a class act. But he’s solid. He was up against it in that first round. He was taking some massive combinations from Soldic, but he came back in round two and totally flipped it and ended up knocking him out,” Harrison said.
But for his own future, Harrison is still eyeing the gold. Nong-O Hama is no longer the man he is chasing after Jonathan Haggerty pulled the upset to unseat the Thai icon. Harrison does not share the same love for Haggerty as he did for Nong-O, as the Brit feels disrespected by his fellow countryman.
“He’s never really shown me any respect at all, and I think that was a pretty disrespectful comment that he said there, especially after what I’ve done. I’ve knocked out more top-level fighters than he’s even had fights. Yeah, he beat Nong-O, blistering performance. Congratulations to him for that, and well done to him for what he’s achieved. I always try and show him props, show him respect, and cheer him on, but I don’t feel like I get the same thing back,” Harrison explained.
Knowing he still needs to get back to full health, Harrison is hoping Haggerty holds on to the belt. Time is his friend. As Harrison stated, coming to England would take some time. If the stars align, the former bantamweight title contender envisions a possible megafight for the U.K.
“Obviously, I want the fight to happen, it needs to happen in England, and it needs to be for the belt. He needs to keep hold of that belt over his next couple of fights because he’s going to have some tough fights. I need to come back, win a fight, and get back into contention,” Harrison said.
