Kayla Harrison made beating Julianna Pena look easy, but her fight before the fight was anything but.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist claimed her first UFC championship on Saturday night, defeating ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ via kimura in the waning seconds of the second round.
While Harrison looked nothing short of spectacular in her third Octagon appearance, fight fans were concerned whether or not she would be able to go 25 minutes after looking especially emaciated during her pre-fight weigh-in.
Of course, Harrison didn’t even need 10 minutes to beat Pena, but she was more than open about her struggles to make the 135-pound limit during her UFC 316 post-fight interview.
“There are moments in your life where you have a choice: to say ‘I quit’ or to dig in your heels,” Harrison said. “Thursday night was definitely one of those moments for me. I wanted to be anywhere else on earth than in that sauna. It sucks ass. It’s not pretty, but it’s in those moments when your true character comes out. I’ve been forged in the fire. I give all of that to God—he’s made me a hell of a weapon.
“The last two pounds—that was God, and that was the team he’s put around me. All my coaches kept me positive. My weight cut specialist, Eric Pena—I really wanted to give up, but I didn’t. I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ God and my team are what I attribute that to. I guess I’m just built different. Everyone always thinks I’m a cheater or something, but I work really hard to be where I’m at. I’m grateful for the doubters and the haters, because that means they’re watching.”
In the Olympics, Harrison competed in the 172-pound weight class before making the move to mixed martial arts. For the PFL, she was a two-time champion at featherweight, a division that ceased to exist in the UFC after Amanda Nunes retired from the sport in 2023.
