Along with being one of the best strikers ever to come out of the United Kingdom, Liam Harrison is also like any fight fan who loves to watch a good battle go down. As such, he wasn’t too pleased to hear ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 calling out newly crowned bantamweight Muay Thai king Jonathan Haggerty after his latest win at ONE Friday Fights 22. 

It was a surprising namedrop, to say the least, as it had seemed clear to many that the Thai star was on a collision course with his compatriot, reigning ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion, Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

Liam Harrison doubted the factor behind the decision change from Superlek Kiatmoo9

Both Superlek and Rodtang are the top contenders in each other’s divisions and have proven to be worthy challengers to their respective World Titles. All thoughts of belts will go out of the flyweight kickboxing king’s mind for now as he prepares to meet Russia’s Tagir Khalilov in Muay Thai action in the main event of ONE Fight Night 12 on Prime Video on Friday, July 14, but that hasn’t changed Harrison’s views about him targeting Haggerty’s crown.

In a recent interview with SCMP MMA, “Hitman” discussed his surprise at Superlek’s callout, and he suggested that the Thai striker should seek to conquer “the art of eight limbs” in his division first before moving up a weight class.

“I did a training camp with [Superlek], and he kept saying he wanted to fight Rodtang. So I’m not sure if someone whispered to his ear saying, ‘Don’t fight Rodtang,’ you know what I mean? So I don’t know what’s going on there,” the 37-year-old said. 

“I don’t understand. Fair enough, if you’re the champion of Muay Thai in your weight division, and you want to move up to win a title in the next one, then [there] shouldn’t be any arguments there. But until you get the champion in your own division, then shout for whoever the champion is.” 

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Superlek recently deflected questions regarding him taking on Rodtang for his belt by saying he would prefer if World Titles remained among Thai fighters, and he credited that mindset as his motivation for challenging Haggerty’s heavier division.

Liam Harrison criticized Superlek Kiatmoo9’s weird wish

Harrison offered a counter-argument to this, doubling down on his desire to see Superlek and Rodtang finally mix it up. “I know the bloke keeps saying, ‘We want to keep the belts in Thailand. We don’t want to fight each other.’ Surely the only way to keep the belts in Thailand is to let Thais fight the Thais. That’s logic in there,” he said.

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“At the end of the day, this is a sport. You should want to see who’s the best in the division, and all the fans want to see who’s the best in the planet.”