“Used to be something special” - Liam Harrison recalls his days training in Thailand, sparring with Superlek, Saenchai
Liam Harrison is arguably the most influential British martial artist of all time, and part of that mystique was his connection to some of the best Thai fighters ever.
The British legend was one of the first foreign fighters to gain the utmost notoriety in Thailand, and he regularly trained with fighters such as Superlek Kiatmoo9, Singdam, Manachai, and the legendary Saenchai.
Taking to Instagram, Harrison looked back at his days training in Thailand and how Saenchai practically tore through them in the gym.
Liam Harrison wrote:
"Sparring at @yokkao with all these guys used to be something special. Manachai, Superlek, Singdam, and plenty of others and that’s including Saenchai who would turn up late, not even warm up, then just completely humiliate everyone in the gym before sinking a few cans of Leo. Good times."
Harrison eventually built longstanding friendships with those fighters, especially Saenchai and Superlek.
Coincidentally Harrison and Superlek shared a card in their latest matches.
Superlek, the reigning ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion, reached champ-champ status when he took Jonathan Haggerty's ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title in the main event of ONE 168: Denver.
Harrison, however, didn't have the same success.
'Hitman' lost to Thai legend Seksan in their catchweight (140 pounds) bout on Sept. 6 at Ball Arena.
Following the defeat, Harrison officially announced his retirement from competition in the card's post-event press conference.
Liam Harrison regrettably admits that he could no longer keep up with the current generation
While he still wants to compete at the highest level, Liam Harrison knows his body isn't what it used to be.
After his technical knockout defeat to Seksan in Denver, Harrison admitted that he could no longer compete with some of this generation's top fighters, including Nico Carrillo and ONE flyweight kickboxing and bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Superlek.
Harrison said at the card's post-event press conference:
"I'm 39, and then I look at guys right in their prime like Nico Carrillo and Superlek, and I don’t know [if I could] f**king beat those guys now, do you know what I mean?"