Fight night went according to plan for Kayla Harrison but it appears training camp leading into her UFC 307 bout was anything but smooth sailing.
The now 2-0 fighter revealed she was hospitalized the week before her unanimous decision win over Ketlen Viera last Saturday.
According to Harrison, she was “peeing blood,” per TMZ.com.
The 34-year-old competes at bantamweight in the UFC (135 pounds) and has previously noted how grueling the weight cut can be for her.
Harrison is a two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka while competing at 78 kg (approx. 170 pounds).
Although she won in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Harrison acknowledged it wasn’t her cleanest victory while referencing her hospitalization as a factor.
“You know, I don’t like to make excuses. I had to go to the hospital the week before I was like peeing blood and there was some stuff going on,” she said, per TMZ.com. “So I don’t like to make excuses, but I definitely wasn’t my best inside the cage Saturday night. And I know I can, be better and grow from it.”
Despite the trials leading up to her second UFC fight — and bleeding inside an octagon for the first time in her career — Harrison took care of business, scoring a 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 en route to victory.
She entered the bout as the No. 3-ranked women’s bantamweight in the UFC despite having fought just once under the banner and after taking down Vieira, the second-ranked contender, and it appears Harrison is destined for a title sooner rather than later.
If that were to happen in the coming months, Harrison would be set to take on Julianna Pena who became the champion at UFC 307 by beating Raquel Pennington in the co-main event.
Pena is now a two-time champ, originally having won the women’s bantamweight title in 2021 by submitting Amanda Nunes. She then immediately lost the belt upon their rematch and hadn’t fought until Saturday when she dethroned Pennington.
Meanwhile, after Harrison won she made sure to put the 135-pound division, especially Pena, on notice.
“Ladies, enjoy it while you can because the queen is home and I’m coming for that (expletive) gold,” Harrison said post-fight.