Kayla Harrison
Opens Up On UFC 316
… Weight Cut, Submitting Pena, Amanda Nunes Fight!
Published
TMZ.com
Kayla Harrison‘s sittin’ atop the MMA world … and the newly crowned women’s bantamweight champ is talking all things UFC 316 and beyond — from her insane weight cut to her next fight vs. Amanda Nunes!
34-year-old Harrison joined Babcock on the “TMZ Sports” TV show (airs nightly on FS1) … just days after she dominated now-former champ Julianna Pena in the co-main event, winning by second-round submission.
We asked her — with a couple of days to digest the enormous accomplishment — how she was feelin’?
“It still feels very surreal. Like, in just the fact that it’s something I’ve wanted for so long and yeah, realizing a dream, it feels crazy,” Kayla said of reaching the mountaintop.
At the same time, the bantamweight strap doesn’t straighten up the house, or feed the kids … meaning the champ is already back on mommy duty. In fact, Kayla told us she was in the “middle of doing laundry” when we spoke.
And while chores aren’t anyone’s idea of a great time, her little ones are most important to Kayla.
“I’m so blessed to have [Emery and Kyla]. I think often about they are the real prize. If I had been coming home with a UFC belt to an empty house, the thought of that makes me want to cry. Like I can’t even imagine my life without them. And so, yeah, they are the prize.”
As for the actual fight, Harrison made light work of Pena … which is super impressive considering how dangerous Julianna is inside an Octagon.
“I know how tough Juliana is. This girl beat Amanda. I expected 25 hard minutes. I really mentally prepared for that,” Harrison told us, saying her early success in the fight “felt too good to be true.”
“Even in the first round, I felt like I had opportunities to unleash, but I kind of told myself, ‘listen, 25 minutes is a long time. Let’s pace ourselves. Let’s be smart.’ What if she comes out guns blazing and what if there’s something missing here?” Kayla said of her mindset Saturday night.
Then, in the second round, the champ says she “kind of lost track of time” before she heard the signal indicating 10 seconds remained … “and I was like, ‘f*** it.'”
And, just like that … Kimura, tap, and new!
The hardest part of the whole fight week was the weight cut … the first time Kayla had to get down to 135 (she previously had to clear 136, and that pound makes a helluva difference).
“I think it’s just trust and surrender and you gotta have faith because it might make people uncomfortable, but there is just no way in hell that I can do it by myself. I am not mentally strong enough. My mind wanted to quit. And my body was pretty close. That was all God. That was all God.”
Now, Harrison (after a week of “relaxing with the kids”), will shift her focus to Nunes … in what will ultimately be the biggest fight in the history of women’s MMA.
“I actually can’t wait to be back in the gym. I have no injuries. I feel good. I think Amanda has to get back into the drug testing pool. And then I want her to be ‘The Lioness.’ I want to face the best Amanda Nunes ever. So, the balls in her court!”
There’s a bunch more with Kayla … check out the full interview!
