Kayla Harrison has but to formally hit 135 kilos on the UFC scale — which she’ll must do as a way to be eligible to win the ladies’s bantamweight title this Saturday.
The longtime face of PFL fights for UFC gold for the primary time when she challenges Julianna Pena within the co-main occasion of UFC 316. The occasion takes place on the Prudential Middle in Newark, N.J.
Harrison was capable of thwart issues of a transfer to bantamweight after signing to the UFC by hitting the mark for each of her octagon appearances — wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira — however she did so weighing in with the additional pound allotment for non-title fights. Now that she has to chop that further pound, many consider that further pound couldn’t solely be a problem earlier than she steps on the dimensions Friday, nevertheless it may impact her within the combat as effectively.
“I feel it’s overblown,” Harrison informed MMA Combating. “I’ve been very disciplined, and I’ve a wonderful group round me, and we’ve physique fats check-ins and calorie check-ins and water and like, there’s a candy science to it. And I’m proper on monitor, and I belief God and I belief the the method, and we’re all going to see [on Friday].”
Harrison spent most of her profession preventing at light-weight, the place she captured the PFL season championship titles in 2019 and 2021. Solely two of her pre-UFC bouts befell exterior of light-weight — a featherweight bout at Invicta FC 43, and a 150-pound catchweight contest in her ultimate PFL bout towards Aspen Ladd.
Regardless of huge success within the PFL, Harrison all the time needed to compete for a UFC title. With the promotion dissolving the ladies’s featherweight division, the two-time Olympic gold medalist had no selection however to alter her life-style as a way to make it work. Harrison believes that the sacrifices she’s making now will create a long-lasting legacy in fight sports activities.
“I don’t consider in weight slicing, I don’t consider that that is the most effective resolution for me, however I do consider that the sacrifice is well worth the reward,” Harrison defined. “It’s not ever one thing I needed to do, like, there’s no beating across the bush with that. It’s not enjoyable, it’s not pleasant, it’s not nice, however I’ve an inside drive and a a objective, and I need to see how excessive I can climb, and I do really feel like It’s all a part of my journey,
“Again earlier than I signed with UFC like, the place was I going to go? What was I going to do? I used to be scared. I’d by no means made the load earlier than, and I requested God to to assist me develop, and he put a hell of a problem in entrance of me. I’ve all the time been a disciplined athlete, however I’ve by no means been tremendous disciplined about what I eat. It’s not a secret. I received the Olympics on Pizza Rolls and Weight loss program Coke and Oreos.
“I moved away from house at a younger age. I imply, I used to be 15 after I moved to Boston, and I used to be residing in a judo home, and diet wasn’t as essential, I’d say, again then in these years as it’s now. So this is a chance for me to develop and be much more disciplined and be refined within the hearth.”
