Kayla Harrison Reveals Sparring Amanda Nunes Was the Wake-Up Call That Forced Her Move: “Oh [expletive], I Gotta Move Here”

One sparring session with Amanda Nunes made Kayla Harrison understand that she wanted to modify gyms.

After profitable a few world titles underneath the PFL banner, Harrison has labored her means up the bantamweight rankings contained in the Octagon, securing wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira. Now, the two-time Olympian will look so as to add UFC gold to her assortment when she challenges reigning 135-pound queen Julianna Pena at UFC 316 on Saturday, June 7.

Whereas Harrison’s abilities on the bottom are simple, her putting has been the weakest a part of her sport, which may probably pose an issue for her in opposition to somebody as scrappy as ‘The Venezuelan Vixen.’

Nonetheless, Harrison has taken vital steps to enhance her boxing. In 2018, she moved to Florida to coach at American High Staff, beforehand the house of former two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes.

In actual fact, it was a single sparring session with ‘The Lioness’ who impressed Harrison to arrange camp at ATT in hopes of rounding out her talent set.

“I believe I did MACO Monday, after which the following day I sparred Amanda, and I used to be like, ‘Oh [expletive], I gotta transfer right here.’ So a month later, I packed up my stuff and I moved from Boston to Florida,” Harrison advised Mike Bohn.

Kayla Harrison is on a collision course with ‘The Lioness’

With a win over Julianna Pena this summer time, Harrison will set the stage for a long-awaited conflict with Nunes, who all however confirmed that she’d be popping out of retirement to face the winner.

‘The Lioness’ walked away from the game in 2023 following a dominant victory over Irene Aldana at UFC 289. Even then, Nunes’ retirement felt momentary with there being little to no competitors for her contained in the Octagon. A showdown with Harrison may change all that, but it surely appears like she’ll even accept a trilogy battle with Pena, ought to ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ rating one other beautiful upset on MMA’s largest stage in June.