Kayla
Harrison says recovering from neck surgery left her questioning
whether she would ever feel like herself again.
The reigning
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight champion
withdrew from her scheduled title defense against Amanda
Nunes at
UFC 324 in January to undergo surgery for herniated discs in
her neck. On the “Deep Waters” podcast, Harrison discussed the
physical and mental challenges of her recovery.
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Kayla Harrison recalls doubts about feeling like herself again
before Amanda Nunes title fight at UFC 334
Harrison described the operation as the most serious of four
surgeries she has undergone in the past four years.
“I feel awesome,” Harrison said. “To be honest, it was rough in the
beginning. I think more just obviously physically, but mentally. It
was such a big surgery and I went ten years without surgery. I had
reconstructive knee surgery between my two Olympics and then I went
ten years with no surgery. But in the last four years, I’ve had
four surgeries, back-to-back-to-back. This one was the most serious
and I was kind of like, am I ever going to be OK again? It got to
the point where I was questioning whether I was ever going to feel
like myself again. But I’m back.”
Harrison said she feels ready to return. She is scheduled to face
Nunes at UFC
334 on Nov. 14 in New York City.
“I had to fight like hell to get through this neck surgery and just
mentally to get back to a place of like, ‘Oh yeah, I am that
b*tch,’ and like, this is for me,” Harrison added. “I don’t need
money. I don’t care; we could do this at ATT [American
Top Team]. This is just for me. I want to go out there and see
what I’m made of.”