Kayla Harrison is back and she’s bringing the heat with her.
The two-time judo Olympic gold medalist has spent almost a year recovering scary neck injury that required major surgery, and she’s preparing to step directly into the cage against Amanda Nunes UFC 334 on November 14. You have to have a high level of confidence to take on the MMA GWOAT under these conditions…luckily, Kayla has that covered.
Even coming back from surgery, Harrison believes he is currently unstoppable in MMA. Even the best Ronda Rousey couldn’t stop him, he said during a recent appearance on the Deep Waters podcast.
“We learned how to handle at a gym,” Kayla said. “You think he’s going to arm me? Oh god, don’t be disrespectful.”
Rousey said during her brief comeback earlier this year some pretty disrespectful stuff About Harrison, and Harrison didn’t hold back when asked what Rousey’s legacy is.
“Dominated by women who picked up the gloves in a cardio-kickboxing class three years ago and said, ‘I think I’ll give it a try,'” she said, before adding sarcastically, “Yeah, 100%, she paved the way.”
“He paved the way,” he added more sincerely. “I stand on his shoulders and I’m grateful for that.”
Still, no Ronda s—.
“I don’t want to sound cocky,” Harrison said. “I’m not. So in judo there are World Cups, Grand Prix, Grand Slams and then World Masters, then World Championships, then the Olympics… Being a World Champion is harder, but being an Olympic medalist is more prestigious. Ronda has an Olympic bronze, a world silver medal, and she won a World Cup and a medal at some Grand Prix.”
“I’ve won every World Championship, every Grand Prix, every Grand Slam. I’ve won the World Masters twice. I’ve won the World Championships and I’ve won three bronze medals. And I’ve won the Olympics twice.”
“So of course I knew I could do (MMA),” Harrison concluded. “Because anything he could do, I can do better.”
Normally, you’d expect to see Harrison and Rousey settle things in the cage, but that seems unlikely at this point. “Rowdy” made it clear when he returned to fight Gina Carano in May was a matter of one fight and she returned to private life to have more children. Even with his desire to prove the haters wrong and take on Harrison, he spent the last six months participating in the UFC and calling out the man in charge. “chauvinist pig”.
Kayla Harrison is definitely not going away and only has a few fights before ‘the wheels fall off.’ So this rivalry with Ronda doesn’t mince words, which is too bad because that would be one heck of a fight.