We knew the UFC 300 fan Q&A was bad … just not this bad.
Former PFL champion Kayla Harrison took the stage late last week alongside a handle of UFC 300 fighters, including teammate Arman Tsarukyan, while bottom-feeding MMA fans tried to make themselves famous by asking the most idiotic questions imaginable.
As one commenter wrote on social media, “Welcome to UFC.”
“At one point there was a fan who came up and spoke to Arman in Russian,” Harrison said on The MMA Hour. “Arman was getting booed the whole time, and we’ve talked about it and we’re fine. The guy asked him basically how many times would … he asked a really inappropriate question about me. Arman answered it, and I looked like an idiot. I’m up on stage laughing and Megan Olivi says ‘Would you care to translate it?’ and Arman was like ‘No, it was a stupid question, move on.’ Then the next day I’m tagged in all of these Russian outlets with the translation of what he asked.”
The translation, according to those familiar with the dialect, was “how many sticks would you throw at her” — to which Arman responded “a few.”
“It’s disheartening,” Harrison continued. “I think it’s disrespectful. I’m a two-time Olympic champion. I’m a world champion, I’m a mother, I’m an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, I wrote a book, I have a foundation. So in that sense it was disrespectful that someone would even ask that question, but more than that, you would never hear a female get asked ‘how many times would you have sex with Alex Pereira?’ We don’t sexualize men like that. So it was disheartening.”
Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, is survivor of sexual abuse.
“At first I was super embarrassed and like shocked by it,” Harrison said. “But then I was like you know what, f*ck it, I’m just going to keep being me and I’m going to say something about it when the time is right, because I feel like that’s wrong. And I want to change the landscape of the sport not just for me but for future female fighters. It was on International Women’s Day to boot. Arman and I spoke about it. Arman and I are okay. We spoke about it, we’re good. There’s no issue with Arman. This is my point, that is wild, that that even happened.”
Harrison, 33, will make her Octagon debut opposite Holly Holm as part of the UFC 300 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat., April 13, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. A victory is likely to put her in the conversation for the next 135-pound title shot.
Assuming she can maintain the weight.