Kayla
Harrison understands that meeting the 136-pound limit for her
promotional debut against former champion Holly Holm at
UFC
300 will be a challenge, but it’s one she’s willing to
embrace.
Harrison (16-1) has mostly competed in the lightweight division
throughout the course of her mixed martial arts career, leading to
questions regarding her ability to safely make the cut to
bantamweight and remain effective inside the cage.
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However, Harrison, a former Olympic gold medalist in judo and a
two-time
Professional Fighters League tournament winner, argues that she
never cut a lot of weight while competing in the PFL to begin with
but is willing to do so considering the platform the
Ultimate Fighting Championship provides.
“There’s a misperception out there that I walk around at like 180
pounds or something,” Harrison told Kevin Iole. “I have walked around
most of my MMA career at 165, 160, because I don’t like cutting
weight. I don’t believe in cutting weight. I don’t think it sends
the right message to kids. That being said, I don’t agree with
this, but sometimes you have to show up and do things you don’t
agree with in order to make your dreams come true. The whole time I
was [in the PFL], I walked around at 165, maybe 160, and so not
only was I usually the smaller fighter with less experience, I was
getting in the cage with girls who were getting in there at 180,
175 pounds.
“Now that’s not going to be the case. Now, I’m going to be the
bigger, stronger, faster, and, in a lot of cases, I believe, the
more experienced fighter. It’s a case, I think, that I started off
backwards, beginning [at the higher weight] but I was able to be
successful because of my pedigree and the skill set that I brought
to MMA. But now I have experience and now I am seasoned. The weight
[cut] part’s going to suck, but it sucks for everyone and I’m not
special.”
Harrison then went on to reveal that she’s already conducted a
trial weight cut to 135 and even simulated a fight to ensure things
go smoothly at UFC 300.
“I wouldn’t have made the move if I didn’t think I was going to be
able to do it,” Harrison said. “We did a test cut. Everything was
measured, from my heart rate to my blood pressure to my blood
sugar. We did a test recovery. We did a test simulated fight.
Everything has been dialed in and everything has been tested. I’m
really confident in my team and I’m really confident in myself. I’m
not saying it’s going to be easy, but the things in life that are
worth having are usually not easy [to obtain].”
UFC 300 is set to go down on April. 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las
Vegas. The marquee event is set to feature a strawweight title
fight between Weili Zhang
and Xiaonan Yan,
a lightweight clash for the BMF title pitting Justin
Gaethje against former featherweight champion Max
Holloway and other intriguing matchups.