Kayla Harrison never contemplated dropping out of UFC 307 even if she was forced to visit a hospital just days before her fight against Ketlen Vieira.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist dealt with an infection that forced her to take antibiotics prior to her fight. That said, Harrison always planned to fight no matter what and she refuses to place blame on her illness for going to a decision on Saturday after promising another vicious finish.
“I don’t really like to make excuses,” Harrison told MMA Fighting. “I had to go to the hospital last week. There was blood in my urine. I had a really bad infection that started spreading. I was on antibiotics. I had blood in my urine. It was a bunch of stuff going on but it’s not an excuse. I have to be the best in the world on my worst day.”
Despite not feeling her best, Harrison still largely dominated the fight, earning a unanimous decision victory to move to 2-0 in the UFC.
As much as she wanted to make an emphatic statement with her performance, Harrison still learned a lot about herself and the way she needs to prepare for fights going forward after a tough few days leading up to the event.
“After 12 weeks of eating like air and prayers, no, we were going to find a way [to fight] come hell or high water,” Harrison said. “Also, just everything that was on the line. Listen, I’m grateful that I got the win and I was able to go out there and still get the ‘W,’ but other than that, I’m eager to get back to the gym. I have a lot of things that I want to improve on. I know this fight is really going to help me grow.
“Even outside of the cage. Some of the decisions I made, it’s going to be good for me. I ate too much I think after I weighed in. I was just so hungry, I think I overdid it. I felt kind of sick on Saturday, because I ate too much. I need to do a better job of staying disciplined even after I weigh in. I need to follow the game plan. There’s a lot of stuff I can improve on.”
Harrison has mauled so much of her competition over the years — including former champion Holly Holm in her UFC debut — that the expectations are always high when she competes. She holds herself to similar high standards, but going through everything she did leading up to the fight against Vieira and still getting the win was ultimately what mattered most.
“It was good for me,” Harrison said. “I think if every fight is easy, then when you get to the hard fights, you don’t trust yourself. Not that I would never trust myself. I know how tough I am. I know I have the ability to dig deep and always find a way. I think that it’s not a bad thing that I had to overcome some adversity on Saturday.”
Following her victory, Harrison headed backstage for her post-fight interviews and then sat down to watch the women’s bantamweight title fight between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña. She’s expected to fight for the title next so Harrison had a vested interest in seeing how the title bout played out. In the end, Peña eked out a controversial decision win to become a two-time UFC champion.
“I think I missed the first round but I also had it going Raquel’s way and then I looked on MMA Decisions or whatever it is, every single journalist had it for Raquel and I’ve never seen that where all of you guys agree,” Harrison said about the decision. “I was surprised. I think it’s kind of unspoken rule in our sport, you don’t steal the title. You’ve got to take the title. I feel bad for ‘Rocky.’ She’s quiet. She’s a humble champion, but she’s the champ. To have it taken like that has got to be tough.
“No [I wasn’t impressed by Julianna], and not to talk shit — I know we’re going to get into plenty of that soon enough — I just don’t see any growth. Since the fight with Amanda [Nunes], I don’t see a ton of progress. That’s just my personal opinion. She’s tough as hell though, I’ll give her that. She’s tough as nails.”
With the belt back around her waist, Peña was then asked by Joe Rogan to address her next fight with the UFC putting a camera on Harrison backstage to get her reaction.
Much to her disappointment, Harrison didn’t even hear her name mentioned as Peña launched into a diatribe calling out former opponent Amanda Nunes, who has been retired for over a year. Harrison could only shrug her shoulders and shake her head as Peña continued to call for a fight that is unlikely to happen right now.
“I mean I think that kind of speaks volumes,” Harrison said about Peña dismissing her in that moment. “Then she says I’m not calling out Amanda, I’m scared. No, honey, I just have a plan. I want to beat you up and then I want to beat Amanda up.
“I think that she’s intimidated. When the truth don’t work, she’s got to say I’m on steroids. She’s got to say that she wasn’t impressed. She’s got to say that Amanda’s the bigger fight. She’s just going to keep making excuses. I can just control me. I’m ready to fight. I want to fight. I want to fight for the title. I hopes that that happens.”
Harrison stated numerous times that she really didn’t care who won in the UFC 307 co-main event so long as she got the winner, but she’s definitely excited for the chance to silence Peña once and for all.
“I just think stylistically, I’m a nightmare for her. That’s rough,” Harrison said. “I think everyone’s a tough fight. I think that now we’re in the highest levels of the sport. We’re talking about the best of the best and they’ve been around for a long time. They’re seasoned. They’ve been through wars. We’re talking about the best of the best. So everyone is a tough fight.
“Stylistically, I think that probably Julianna’s an easier fight for me than Ketlen. Julianna’s probably an easier fight for me than Raquel, but again, I think I’m the best in the world. I believe I’m the best in the world. So I’m the tough fight.”
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