Some have been calling for a fight between Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison. However the Olympian is not particularly keen on the idea herself, at least not right now.
When Harrison announced her intent to make the move to MMA, anticipation was high to see how she could perform. From the start, her Olympic level Judo prowess drew comparisons to Ronda Rousey, but it quickly became apparent that these were two very different athletes.
So far Kayla has been undefeated in her 8 professional fights, all but one of which coming under the PFL banner. These fights have seen her show a dominant but well rounded game in the lightweight division, with a 75% finishing rate across her career.
Cage Fighting Is Terrifying
In her next outing, Kayla Harrison will be facing off against Mariana Morais, in a bout scheduled for May 6th. Ahead of this contest, most people think that it is a surefire win for the two-time gold medalist, but she is not overestimating her opponent.
Speaking in a recent interview, she explained that MMA is such a terrifying and unpredictable sport that she does not have to fake excitement for this bout. Because of that, she is staying focused on the task at hand against Morais.
“Have you ever been in a cage with someone? It’s the most terrifying thing in the world. It’s like, this person’s trying to take your head off, so I don’t have to pump myself up,” Harrison explained.
“There’s no taking her lightly. Everyone’s tough until you beat them. Listen, she’s a gam fighter, she throws heavy leather. I’ve got to be smart, go out there, do what I do, instill my will, and hopefully ultimately make it a boring fight, make it so one-sided that people are like ‘Jeeze, what the hell.’
“That’s what I try to do. I try to make it a boring fight, I try to be so dominant that people are like ‘Look at her, she’s fighting this.’ That’s fine, say that I’m fighting cans, say that I’m fighting bums. That’s just because I’m that good. That’s what I want, that’s fine. I want people to say that.”
Kayla Harrison Not Interested In Amanda Nunes
Despite the fact that they are in different weight classes, some fans have been calling for a bout between Kayla Harrison and UFC champ-champ Amanda Nunes. Of course, this is largely attributed to Amanda’s utter destruction of everybody that she faces in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions.
While Kayla is not fully against it, she does think that this is not the right time for the fight to happen. She says that she and Amanda are teammates, and with the difference in organizations, this is not something she is pushing for.
“People can just come to ATT (to see me and Amanda fight),” Harrison said with a laugh.
“(We haven’t sparred) in a long, long time. Listen, I get it, people want to see this, that’s fine. But like, we’re teammates, she’s in a different organization, I have a tournament coming up. She just won, she just had a baby, her wife just fought, there are all these other things going on. I love the ‘Well maybe someday,’ that’s great. But I have things that I have to focus on, she has things that she has to focus on.
“Like we’ve both said many times, if our paths cross they cross, and I think that we’ll do it with a lot of respect and the true spirit of martial arts, and we’ll go out there and put on a hell of a show and hopefully we’ll both make a hell of a lot of money, and that’ll be that. But until then, she’s doing her thing, I’m doing my thing, and that’s it.”
It may make some fans dissatisfied, but this is a perfectly reasonable response from Kayla Harrison. Until this fight becomes a real possibility, it is best for her to focus on the task at hand.
