Liam Harrison is not just attempting to dethrone the legendary Nong-O Gaiyanghadao at ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II on Friday, Aug. 26.
The British striking star is also trying to put the finishing touches to his illustrious career with the missing piece, the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship.
But even with that, Harrison believes it has been the level of skill that he has maintained throughout his time competing that is most significant.
“If anyone asks me what my greatest achievement is, it’s not winning this title or that title. It’s not beating Anuwat, or Numphon, or any other elite fighters that I’ve beaten. It’s not that crazy fight with Muangthai or anything like that,” Harrison said.
“My greatest achievement is consistency. No one else has been able to keep the consistency that I have. I’ve been fighting elite-level Thais since I was 18. I’ve been fighting good-level Thais and all the best Europeans since I was 17.”
“I’m now 36, well 37 in a couple of months. No one at all will be able to achieve [something] like that any time soon and keep doing it consistently. That’s the greatest achievement, I think, for me.”
At ONE on Prime Video 1, Harrison gets his chance to grab gold. And a victory against the unbeaten divisional king would have a resounding impact on the British martial arts scene.
“Hitman” wants to instill the belief that future generations can achieve greatness at the elite levels of Muay Thai.
“Influencing the younger generation, yes, that is important to me. I want to show people that you can make a career out of Thai boxing. You can have a great life, and basically, I want to show that you can do it, and if you put your mind to something, you can make your dreams come true. I know it’s a cliché, but it’s right,” Harrison said.
Many may already consider him the greatest British Muay Thai athlete in history, and Harrison credits that for all that he has shown in the nearly two decades of competing against the best athletes.
And at ONE on Prime Video 1, which broadcasts live in U.S. primetime, he is hoping that the final strokes he will add to his Muay Thai painting will be gold.
“I’ve had a lot of great wins throughout my career. Great stoppage wins by KO and stuff. The Anuwat fight was massive, the Kulebin fight. I had a lot of good fights in Thailand when I lived there getting that experience. I had a lot of crazy fights as a teenager in Leeds that got me really well known around the UK scene and to the top of the UK,” the top-ranked bantamweight challenger said.
“But winning the ONE Championship world title will solidify that. I think it’s already solidified, to be fair, but I think when I win that fight, then nobody will be able to touch me. I’ve had a lot of really good wins on the way to get to the position that I’m at now. Even the Muangthai fight, my last fight, that was another one that will go down in the history books of Harrison insane fights.”
ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II airs live on Prime Video on Friday, Aug. 26, at 8 p.m. ET.