Kayla Harrison IS NOT A Complete Fighter 👀

Kayla Harrison IS NOT A Complete Fighter 👀

What what do you think of her? Like we’ll get to the fight and and and you know what she’s accomplished or not accomplished in your eyes, but her as a person, what what do you think? I I think she’s great. I think she’s amazing. You know, she has a lot of accomplishments under her belt, and I respect that immensely. But you weren’t you weren’t you weren’t initially very excited, interested in fighting her. So, so for you to say that you you really admire her accomplishments, but not so much in ter in terms of like that made her like a contender. Well, I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t, you know, wanting to to fight her, eager to fight her. The thing is is that when I fell out with broken ribs and had to pull out of my trilogy fight with Amanda, I was heartbroken. And I believe just as well as a promotion believes that Amanda retired too early and that she’s, you know, itching and scratching to come back. So, my initial thought is call her out and and make her come back because it seems like, you know, when the other girls won in the division, they wouldn’t breathe her name. You know, Amanda’s name is like Voldemort. It’s like they just won’t say it. But, I’ve never been shy to say Amanda’s name or that I want that fight. So, for me, I’m looking at the big fights. I’m looking for getting that trilogy fight back. I’m looking to settle the score since we’re both one and one. And so, Kayla wasn’t necessarily on my uh radar. It was absolutely nothing personal, just more so what I wanted and what I felt was best for me. Um, upon hearing that, you know, she had no interest in fighting me and she wanted nothing to do with with the trilogy, I of course then took the next fight, which was Kayla. What’s that like to really want to fight someone that’s retired and maybe she’ll come out of retirement, but right now she’s retired. What is that like? Well, it’s just frustrating because, you know, they’re telling me, you know, she’s retired. she has nothing to prove against you, but she hates Kayla more. So, if Kayla wins, then she’ll come out of retirement and she’ll fight Kayla, but she’s not coming out to fight you. And so, it puts me in a position where I feel like the only thing that I can do is just kind of egg her on in order to get her out of there because I know that she probably eventually will come back. Um, again, like I said, I think she was just burned out, needed a break. You know, she’s done a lot for the sport. She’s she’s the goat. So, I think that she just wanted some time off and kind of curious to see what’s going to happen between me and Kayla and that’s why she’s taking a back seat so that she can sit in that front row and kind of see what happens. You expect her to be at the fight? Uh, I’m not really sure, but I would anticipate she probably will be. And who’s telling you that? That, oh, she’ll fight Kayla, but not you. I have this Nostradamus way about me where I just kind of know things and kind of just predict them and and you know, I’m I’m usually pretty accurate. Yeah. Yeah. So to get to that though, you got you Kayla’s the one in front of you. Um you said you you admire her accomplishments. What like which ones? What what stands out to you in terms of what she’s done? Well, of course she’s won two gold medals in the Olympics. Uh she is, you know, in the Judo Hall of Fame. She’s 18 and one as a professional. She’s a two-time champion in the PFL. So those are just, you know, tip of the iceberg for some of the things that she’s accomplished. Do you see a a a full mixed martial artist out of her? You know, I would say that she is unproven in that category because she has just been able to muscle her way down to getting these girls down to the ground and trying to, you know, lay on top of them control time for for, you know, 15 minutes. But I I do believe that her um let’s put it this way, I think that Amanda is more of a complete fighter all around than Kayla is. You you said muscle muscle than down. Do you see her more of technique or just kind of some raw athleticism? Oh, she absolutely has technique. I mean, you don’t get to win two gold medals without having, you know, technique. She’s got technique. Absolutely. Um, and she’s she’s very big. You know, she’s she’s uh very powerful in her uh judo techniques. So, that’s what I see. What have you seen when she can’t direct the fight to where she wants? How does she how has she responded to that? When I see that she can’t direct the fight how she wants, I feel that she’s frustrated. I see the frustration in her face. You know, she wants to be able to get in and attack and, you know, she doesn’t like getting punched in the face and that’s very visible. Knowing that you want would love to fight Amanda, does that have any impact on this of just like like that’s what I really want, but this is good. I’m like, do you know what I’m asking? Like like to to not be getting truly what you want, does that have any impact on your psyche or No. No. Absolutely not. You know, when they’re telling me that Amanda’s not coming back and and she wants nothing to do with me, I just put that in my back pocket and I just kind of keep looking forward. I’m a Kentucky Derby horse. I am a thoroughbred. I got my blinders on and I’m not looking to the left or looking to the right. I’m looking right down the finish line and Kayla is at the end of that finish line and and that is my goal. And do you see a lot of other exciting things for you? Because you’ve been here for a minute now and you fought a lot of these girls before. Like is is are there still a lot of exciting challenges when you think about it or do you do you feel like man I’ve I’ve kind of went through a lot of this stuff? Like what is going to be? No, absolutely not. You know, I’m going to be that girl at 60 years old, that woman, excuse me, that’s still going to be trying to, you know, call up Dana and ask him to get me inside the octagon. I’m never going to be done. You know, I am a fighter through and through. This is my passion. This is what sets my heart on fire and this is, you know, who I am and and you know, how I’ve, you know, made a living and created a life for myself. So mixed martial arts is is such a passion for me and I definitely don’t see myself being done, you know, anytime soon. I’m going to fight till the cows come home. You know, you drop the atomic bomb, I’m that cockroach that’s going to be there still living and and and nothing’s going to stop me. And so last thing on that is uh I mean obviously unfortunately you had some in some some injuries that kept you in um less less active. How do you like your activity now? Do you do would you like to be fighting more frequently? Do you think like this is a this is kind of a appropriate thing where you’re taking five round championship fights? What is your idea of activity? Of course, a fighter always wants to stay active, but at the end of the day, there’s, you know, things that happen inside the octagon that are out of your control, like fighting for your life, for example, or breaking ribs or tearing your knee out or, you know, dislocating your bicep and having to get it reattached. There’s things that have happened in my career, in training, in the fights that have taken me out longer than I would have liked to. But if I could fight every week, you bet your boots I’m going to be fighting every single week. I think that at the end of the day, you leave a gigantic part of yourself inside of that octagon every time they close that cage door. And 25 minutes of fighting is extremely brutal on your body. So, you know, I feel like I take the appropriate amount that I need for my body in order to get back in there and perform at my best. Awesome. Well, I’m looking forward to the press conference and then of course the fight. Thank you. I appreciate the time. Thank you.

Julianna Pena sits down and speaks with Brett Okamoto about her upcoming bout against Kayla Harrison at UFC 316.

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