Kayla Harrison spent some time in the hospital not long before her sophomore appearance inside the Octagon.
On Saturday night, the two-time Olympic gold medalist returned to MMA’s biggest stage six months removed from a spectacular debut against former bantamweight queen Holly Holm at UFC 300. This time, Harrison squared off with No. 2 ranked contender Ketlen Vieira in a fight that would likely produce the next 135-pound title challenger.
Though Harrison faced some adversity, getting bloodied up and sporting a rather nasty knot on her forehead, she ultimately came out on top via unanimous decision.
Ketlen Vieira 🆚 Kayla Harrison #UFC307pic.twitter.com/Dgp8MgJSRC
— UFC Fans (@ufcfansfr) October 6, 2024
Speaking with TMZ Sports, Harrison revealed that a week before she was scheduled to fight Vieira, she was urinating blood and had to go to the hospital.
“I’m still learning. I’m still growing. I feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement for me. It definitely wasn’t my best night in the cage,” Harrison said. “There were a lot of things that happened. “You know, I don’t like to make excuses. I had to go to the hospital the week before I was like peeing blood and there was some stuff going on. So I don’t like to make excuses, but I definitely wasn’t my best inside the cage Saturday night. And I know I can, be better and grow from it.”
“I need to take a little time off because of the weight cut and the process,” Harrison said. “Do you want the truth? I’m just not built to weigh 135 pounds. Anytime I get under the 150s, it’s not pleasant. The first time was fear of, ‘Can I do it?’” she concluded. “And this time, it was fear of like, ‘Oh, God, I have to do it.’ You know, like the anticipation.”
Kayla Harrison Reacts to Controversial Pena vs. Pennington Decision
Assuming Harrison can continue to safely make the 135-pound limit, all signs point to her being the first challenger for newly minted bantamweight queen Julianna Pena.
‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ scored a highly controversial split decision—one of many on the night—to dethrone Raquel Pennington and kickstart her second reign with the belt.
TWO-TIME CHAMP JULIANNA PEÑA 🏆🏆@VenezuelanVixen is Champ again after 5 hard-fought rounds! #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/ZZOh6ANqyv
— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2024
Asked for her thoughts on two of the three judges seeing the fight for Pena, Harrison did not appear to agree with the decision.
“I didn’t get to see the whole fight. I haven’t gone back and watched the first round yet, but I thought that ‘Rocky’ won. It’s kind of like an unspoken rule that you’ve got to take the title. You don’t get to steal the title and I looked at MMA decisions and every single—like, that’s never happened where every single journalist agrees and they all said Raquel won it.
“I didn’t see the first round so I can’t accurately say. I just feel back for ‘Rocky.’ She’s not the most outspoken. She seems pretty introverted. Like a quiet, humble champion. She’s busted her ass for years and she did it her way and became a UFC champion and to have it—that’s gotta suck. I feel for her and I mean, Julianna is so annoying.”
Immediately following her victory, Pena called for a trilogy fight with the retired former two-division champion Amanda Nunes, much to the chagrin of Harrison who is by all accounts, the No. 1 contender.
😂 Kayla Harrison reacts to Julianna Pena ignoring her and calling out Amanda Nunes. pic.twitter.com/73iEx6PSjS
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 6, 2024
“She’s just scared so she’s gotta make a lot of noise,” Harrison said in regards to Pena ducking her. “I think she’ll do anything not to fight me, including callout [Amanda Nunes]. She’s probably gonna call out Ronda Rousey next.”
Watch the full interview below:
