ONE Championship pays Liam Harrison full purse after weight miss controversy, Chatri Sityodtong "empathizes" with him
ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has vowed to pay Liam Harrison his full fight purse after a weight miss controversy saw him withdraw from Saturday's card in Bangkok.
The British Muay Thai legend was set to return from a long injury layoff against Japan's Katsuki Kitano but then stepped on the scales 1lb heavy—despite claiming he had been told he was 2 lbs under the 145 lb limit during an unofficial check earlier in the afternoon.
Harrison insisted the issue was a mistake by ONE officials and refused to cut the extra pound and weigh in again at Thursday's official checks.
'The Hitman' was absent from Friday's ceremonial weigh-ins and face-offs and then released a statement confirming he would not fight.
He was still stewing when Sportskeeda saw him at the host Peninsula hotel pool after the event on Saturday afternoon, but his demeanor soon changed after a call from Sityodtong. Harrison posted on social media:
"Devastated I didn't get to fight today. However, I just had a great chat with the big boss, who has understood this situation. He's also paid me in full and compensated me for my camp and hard work in the build-up to this fight."
Harrison thanked Sityodtong again and said he was looking forward to returning to action against fellow legend Seksan Or Kwanmuang of Thailand at ONE 168 in Denver on September 6, in what could be the final fight of his career.
Chatri had earlier told Sportskeeda at the ONE 167 post-event press conference that he understood Harrison's outlook.
"I empathize with Liam. If it was me I would be very upset too. So I have not spent enough time on the situation, so I don't really have an opinion on it. But obviously I will talk to my team and figure out what happened."
He added:
"I think we had 22 athletes and everyone made weight and hydration easily. It was Liam and his opponent that didn't. Rodtang was way over, but there were rumours that he was going to miss weight again."
He concluded:
"So I don't think the scales were innacurate, I have no idea what happened. Genuinely. But I get it. Liam trains his butt off and he's a legend and he hasn't missed weight in 12 years or something. So fans should not be upset with Liam at all."