“I’ve got a lot of questions that need to be answered” – Liam Harrison on the significance of comeback fight at ONE 167
Veteran British fighter Liam Harrison seeks to prove that he is still capable of fighting at a high level when he returns to action later this year after being sidelined for almost two years because of a knee injury.
'Hitman' plunges back into action at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on June 7 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. He will go up against Katsuki Kitano of Japan in a featured bantamweight Muay Thai duel.
It will be his first fight since August 2022 when he injured his knee during the opening round of his title clash against former bantamweight Muay Thai king Nong-O Hama that forced him to take a TKO loss.
Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA in an interview, the 38-year-old Leeds, England, native shared his frame of mind as his long-awaited return to competition approaches, saying:
"It should be good. It should be a really exciting fight. He's got a lot to prove. I've got a lot of questions that need to be answered to everyone who's going to want to see what form I'm going to come back in. So yeah, I have tunnel vision, that's all it at the minute."
Watch the interview below:
At ONE 167, Liam Harrison is facing an opponent who had a winning debut in ONE Championship back in October. Kitano, 27, was a unanimous decision winner in his featherweight Muay Thai showdown against Dutch fighter Halil Kutukcu.
ONE 167 is headlined by the ONE atomweight MMA world title fight between reigning champion Stamp Fairtex and Filipino challenger Denice Zamboanga. It is available live and for free in U.S. primetime on June 7 to North American fans via Amazon Prime Video.
Liam Harrison being judicious as he makes his return to competition
Englishman Liam Harrison is excited to return to action on June 7 at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga in Thailand but is not looking past it at the moment, choosing to take it a step at a time.
He said at this stage of his career, he is being wise in not over-extending himself to get the most from his body and continue to fight at a high level.
Harrison shared in an interview with Sportskeeda MMA:
"I'm gonna look to knock Kitano out. And if I knock him out, well, when I knock him out, I'm not going to jump on the mic and go right, 'I'm back, you better get me a title fight.' I'm going to take it slowly, one step at a time. I'm going to listen to me body because I'm 38."
Liam Harrison has been competing under the ONE Championship banner since 2018 and has established himself as one of the more entertaining and explosive Muay Thai fighters in the promotion.