Kayla Harrison isn’t any stranger to gold, ache, or the highlight. The 2-time Olympic judo champion (2012, 2016) bulldozed her method by the world’s hardest tatami mats earlier than buying and selling her gi for MMA gloves and a Skilled Fighters League cage.
Kayla Harrison
Within the PFL, Harrison didn’t simply win – she dominated, accumulating two light-weight championships and leaving a path of battered ambitions in her wake. Now, the UFC has opened its doorways, and Harrison is about for her most anticipated combat but. This Saturday, she faces Juliana Peña, the reigning UFC girls’s bantamweight champion – a lady whose chin and willpower are as cussed as they arrive. The stakes? A shot at rewriting MMA historical past, and maybe just a little extra.
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Kayla Harrison’s supervisor, Ali Abdelaziz, isn’t shy in regards to the plan. In an interview with Mike Bohn, he mentioned:
“That is the roadmap: I would like Kayla to win the title on Saturday. Amanda Nunes will come again, we combat for the 145 title, Kayla will beat her at 145. Amanda will minimize right down to 135, Kayla will beat her at 135, and Kayla may have two UFC championships. Now Henry Cejudo is screwed! That is what I wish to do.
“After all, we now have to speak to the UFC, and Juliana Peña is hard as nails, not straightforward, not a walkover. However that is what I’d love for Kayla to do. And after that, I would like Kayla to go to WWE and win a WWE title too. Why not? We’ll discuss to Nick Khan. It’s all one household now, so it’s very, very doable.”
Abdelaziz doesn’t mince phrases about his shopper’s work ethic, both. “She’s a psychopath, you already know? She trains greater than anybody I do know. I believed Frankie Edgar was the toughest employee, however him and Kayla could be a tie. No person works greater than Kayla Harrison. It doesn’t exist. She doesn’t cheat about something—her meals, her food plan, her self-discipline. She’s a distinct breed, man. She’s going to go down as the best feminine fighter of all time.”
UFC 316
Combat week is often when tempers flare and persistence runs skinny, however this time, Kayla Harrison is all smiles and optimistic vibes, he proceed, “Since I met Kayla, she by no means modified. She will get grumpy on combat week, however this combat week she’s been superior. She has nice power, she’s lifting everybody up, and everyone seems to be lifting her up. There’s no negativity. And she or he’s going to go there, man, and—Kayla desires to… ” “
I respect Juliana Peña, I believe she’s powerful as nails, she’s a world champion, you must put respect on her identify. However I believe Kayla goes to make it a massacre. I believe it’s going to be a massacre. Kayla has each intention to make her pay for every thing Juliana mentioned.”
However Harrison’s ambitions don’t cease on the Octagon. She’s already dipped her toes into the world {of professional} wrestling, making appearances that counsel she’s snug on the canvas. With WWE and UFC now below the identical company roof, Abdelaziz is already plotting her subsequent conquest. Because the Octagon lights blaze this weekend, hold your eyes peeled. If Kayla Harrison will get her hand raised, the massacre would possibly simply be the beginning of a two-sport takeover. And if her supervisor’s roadmap holds, Kayla Harrison may quickly be the primary to toss UFC gold and a WWE belt into the identical health club bag along with her Olympic gold medals.
