One sparring session with Amanda Nunes made Kayla Harrison notice that she wanted to change gyms.
After profitable a few world titles underneath the PFL banner, Harrison has labored her approach up the bantamweight rankings contained in the Octagon, securing wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira. Now, the two-time Olympian will look so as to add UFC gold to her assortment when she challenges reigning 135-pound queen Julianna Pena at UFC 316 on Saturday, June 7.
Whereas Harrison’s expertise on the bottom are simple, her putting has been the weakest a part of her sport, which might probably pose an issue for her towards somebody as scrappy as ‘The Venezuelan Vixen.’
Nonetheless, Harrison has taken important steps to enhance her boxing. In 2018, she moved to Florida to coach at American Prime Crew, beforehand the house of former two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes.
In truth, it was a single sparring session with ‘The Lioness’ who impressed Harrison to arrange camp at ATT in hopes of rounding out her talent set.
“I feel I did MACO Monday, after which the following day I sparred Amanda, and I used to be like, ‘Oh [expletive], I gotta transfer right here.’ So a month later, I packed up my stuff and I moved from Boston to Florida,” Harrison informed Mike Bohn.
Kayla Harrison is on a collision course with ‘The Lioness’
With a win over Julianna Pena this summer time, Harrison will set the stage for a long-awaited conflict with Nunes, who all however confirmed that she’d be popping out of retirement to face the winner.
‘The Lioness’ walked away from the game in 2023 following a dominant victory over Irene Aldana at UFC 289. Even then, Nunes’ retirement felt non permanent with there being little to no competitors for her contained in the Octagon. A showdown with Harrison might change all that, however it feels like she’ll even accept a trilogy battle with Pena, ought to ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ rating one other gorgeous upset on MMA’s largest stage in June.
