ONE Championship: “They can both do great things” - Liam Harrison sees Jonathan Haggerty, Nico Carrillo leading the charge for the UK striking scene

The idea of ONE Championship coming to the UK has been floating around for a while now, and honestly, with the amount of talent coming out of the UK right now, it feels more realistic than ever, at least, according to Liam Harrison.

Jonathan Haggerty is holding gold as the ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champ, and Nico Carrillo just made a huge statement moving up to the featherweight Muay Thai ranks with a brutal win over Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong.

In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship, British Muay Thai icon Liam Harrison made it clear that he thinks both fighters can go much further:

“I think they can both do great things in their divisions.”

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Fans were fired up about a potential Haggerty vs. Carrillo showdown at one point, but with Carrillo now competing at featherweight and looking huge for the weight, and Haggerty being a true bantamweight, that ship’s probably sailed.

And that’s fine, according to Harrison. They don’t need to fight each other to prove anything. They’re already pushing the UK scene forward in their own lanes.

“Build an incredible card” - Liam Harrison says hype for a Jonathan Haggerty-Nico Carrillo main event in the UK hasn’t died down

Even if the fight between Haggerty and Carrillo doesn’t happen, the hype around both of them hasn’t gone anywhere, and Harrison thinks ONE still has all the tools to put on a banger of a card in the UK:

“I have no idea how it works, but I think they had an incredible chance with Jonathan Haggerty versus Nico Carrillo, which didn’t come to fruition. Even without that now, I still think there’s the chance to build an incredible card.”

Between Haggerty, Carrillo, George Jarvis, Freddie Haggerty, Otis Waghorn, Liam Nolan, and even Harrison himself, if timing works out, there’s enough firepower to sell out an arena.

Whether or not the dream fight happens, the dream show still could.

About the author

Charlene is a MMA writer with 5 years of experience writing content in various formats. She inadvertently fell into the rabbit hole of MMA after she (begrudgingly) joined her friend for a class and ended up enjoying it far beyond her expectations. She has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and once dreamed of becoming a sports doctor before she found her true calling in writing.

She has ghostwritten for various health, fitness, and martial arts businesses. Despite the busyness of her day-to-day, she occasionally finds the time to practice Boxing and Muay Thai at home with her coach/husband and their many cats as their rapt audience.

She has organized a few local MMA events and aspires to establish her own little gym someday.

Outside of work, Charlene enjoys books, video games, and anime.

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Edited by Harvey Leonard