Kayla Harrison dealt with medical issues prior to UFC 307.
Harrison scored her second Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) win at UFC 307 last weekend (Sat., Oct. 5, 2024) when she defeated No. 2 ranked Women’s Bantamweight Ketlen Vieira inside Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
New champion Julianna Pena was not impressed.
The former two-time Olympic gold medalist was not as dominant as she was in her UFC debut when she demolished Holly Holm; however, some medical issues before the fight could have contributed to her performance.
“I’m still learning. I’m still growing. I feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement for me. It definitely wasn’t my best night in the cage. There were a lot of things that happened,” Harrison told TMZ Sports. “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. 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.”
Harrison didn’t reveal why she was peeing blood, but it doesn’t help that she is cutting a lot of weight to make the Women’s Bantamweight limit of 136 lbs. The 34-year-old also told TMZ that anytime she gets below 150, it starts getting very hard.
“I need to take a little time off because of the weight cut and the process,” Harrison said. “Do you want the truth? I’m just not built to weigh 135 lbs. Anytime I get under the 150s, it’s not pleasant. The first time was fear of can I do it? And this time, it was fear of like, ‘Oh, God, I have to do it.’ You know, like the anticipation.”
Even with the massive weight cut against her, Harrison makes the weight and performs. The question is, how long will she want to make the weight, especially if she captures the title?
For more UFC 307 results and fallout click here.