ONE 166: Liam Harrison believes Nong-O “still got it,” but needs to protect his chin at this stage of his career

Liam Harrison believes Nong-O “still got it,” but needs to protect his chin at this stage of his career

Modified Feb 14, 2024 04:33 GMT

Nong-O (L) and Liam Harrison (R) | Image by ONE Championship

Liam Harrison feels for his fellow Muay Thai legend Nong-O Hama, who’s been experiencing the effects of Father Time as of late.

After going 10-0 in the world’s largest martial arts organization, the former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai overlord has dropped back-to-back matches in the form of scary knockout losses.

In arguably one of the biggest upsets in ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’, Nong-O got dethroned by Jonathan Haggerty at ONE Fight Night 9 last year.

The Thai icon’s cloak of invincibility was stolen that night, along with his 26 pounds of gold, after ‘The General’ took away his consciousness.

Eight months later, Nong-O returned at ONE Friday Fights 46 against another younger Scottish killer.

Despite a strong start, Nong-O got caught by Nico Carrillo’s freakish power and suffered another debilitating knockout defeat.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Liam Harrison shared his two cents on Nong-O’s slump. According to ‘Hitman’, the 37-year-old still has world-class skills to continue fighting at the highest level.

However, he must now put more focus on his striking defense since the new generation has found a way to reach his chin.

Harrison explained:

“You've got young and hungry kids who can hit sharp and fast like Jonathan Haggerty and Nico Carrillo can, but you can't be taking them shots off them guys."

He added:

"So yeah, you need to be 100 percent on your game and obviously, he's still got it. But once Nico Carrillo just put it on him, his size, his strength, his speed, and his power, all came into play.”

Watch the full interview: