Kayla Harrison
Opens Up On UFC 316
… Weight Lower, Submitting Pena, Amanda Nunes Battle!
Printed
TMZ.com
Kayla Harrison‘s sittin’ atop the MMA world … and the newly topped girls’s bantamweight champ is speaking all issues UFC 316 and past — from her insane weight minimize to her subsequent battle vs. Amanda Nunes!
34-year-old Harrison joined Babcock on the “TMZ Sports” TV present (airs nightly on FS1) … simply days after she dominated now-former champ Julianna Pena within the co-main occasion, profitable by second-round submission.
We requested her — with a few days to digest the big 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 stated of reaching the mountaintop.
On the identical time, the bantamweight strap would not straighten up the home, or feed the children … which means the champ is already again on mommy obligation. Actually, Kayla advised us she was within the “middle of doing laundry” once we spoke.
And whereas chores aren’t anybody’s concept of a good time, her little ones are most essential 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 precise battle, Harrison made gentle work of Pena … which is tremendous spectacular contemplating how harmful 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 advised us, saying her early success within the battle “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 stated of her mindset Saturday night time.
Then, within the second spherical, the champ says she “kind of lost track of time” earlier than she heard the sign indicating 10 seconds remained … “and I was like, ‘f*** it.'”
And, identical to that … Kimura, faucet, and new!
The toughest a part of the entire battle week was the burden minimize … the primary time Kayla needed to get right down to 135 (she beforehand needed to clear 136, and that pound makes a helluva distinction).
“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 every week of “relaxing with the kids”), will shift her focus to Nunes … in what is going to finally be the largest battle within the historical past of ladies’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 is a bunch extra with Kayla … take a look at the total interview!
