Kayla Harrison survived sex abuse to win Olympic gold. She's now a UFC champ with a mega fight ahead

Toronto Star

8 hours ago

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Around her neck or around her waist, Kayla Harrison has a knack for winning gold.
One key distinction, of course, between the Olympics and professional mixed martial arts is what happens in the immediate aftermath of a monumental victory — there is no four-year wait for the next fight.
The next challenger is ready for a confrontation inside the MMA cage.
Harrison barely had minutes to cool down after a dominant submission win earned her the 135-pound championship — in front of a packed house that included President Donald Trump and former boxer Mike Tyson — when she called out the seemingly retired, former champion and 2025 UFC Hall of Fame inductee Amanda Nunes.
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'I see you Amanda! Come on up, Amanda,' Harrison bellowed from the cage.
Nunes stepped out of retirement and into the fray, the two former training partners shook hands and exchanged a few pleasantries before the fighters struck a fierce, staredown pose.
Just a little something for the poster.
'It felt big,' UFC President Dana White said.
The moment indeed felt like the kickoff for something special, one more super fight for Harrison in a career sprinkled with them over different fight disciplines, fight promotions — almost always with the same result.
Harrison's hand raised in victory.
'Everything I ever wanted is happening,' she said.
Her biggest reward, in an adulthood full of professional triumphs, came Saturday night at UFC 316 at the Prudential Center when she made 135-pound champion Julianna Peña quit late in the second round to win a championship in only her third UFC fight.
She's used to proving she's a champion at the highest level, from the Olympics to the cage, leaving only destruction in her wake.
No U.S. judoka — man or woman — had ever won an Olympic gold medal before Harrison beat Britain's Gemma Gibbons to win the women's 78-kilogram division at the 2012 London Olympics. She won gold again four years later at the Rio de Janeiro Games and made her MMA debut in 2018.
The 34-year-old Harrison was a two-time $1 million prize champion in the Professional Fighters League lightweight championship division before she moved on to UFC last year. She won her first two UFC bouts and her record — now a sparkling 19-1 in MMA overall — coupled with her fame made her a contender for an instant title shot.
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Through it all, Harrison has been open about the years of physical and mental abuse inflicted by a former coach leading into the Olympics. She was victimized as a teen, revealing she even thought of quitting judo and of suicide. Harrison turned to her deep faith — 'I trust God' — that has steadied her along the way and she wrote a book about recognizing and overcoming trauma.
She's turned into an advocate of sorts for abuse, and as the best active female MMA fighter continues to elbow her way into the public eye, Harrison speaks out candidly and without shame about her experience.
'I'm well removed from it,' she said. 'I'm no longer that 10-year-old girl, that 16-year-old little girl. I'm an adult now. I feel like God gave me this story for a reason. It's my job to use it to try and make the world a better place. I want to talk about it.'
Harrison reeled off grim child abuse statistics and noted, 'that's just the kids who say something.'
'How do we stop that? We stop it by having a conversation,' Harrison said. 'We stop it by looking at it in the eye and putting a face to it.'
That face is now one of an elite MMA champion.
'I don't ever want another little girl or little boy to feel alone, to feel dirty, to feel ashamed,' Harrison said. 'There is hope. There is a shiny gold medal at the end of the tunnel. There is a UFC belt at the end of the tunnel.'
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Harrison made quick work of Peña — who authored one of the great upsets in UFC history when she stunned Nunes for the belt in 2021 — to add another championship to her fight collection.
Harrison took a page from her judo career before the bout and bowed to Trump as a sign of respect. White, the long-time Trump ally, fastened the belt around Harrison's waist inside the cage and encouraged her to say hello to the president.
She hopped down from the cage and draped her belt over Trump's shoulder as he stood from his cageside seat. They hugged and she posed for photos with the president and his entourage.
'The president of the United States is giving me a kiss on my cheek and I'm like, holy (cow),' Harrison said. 'And then Mike Tyson is right there! I'm like, am I in a movie right now? What is happening?'
She later pitched a trip to the White House as is customary for other sports champions.
Harrison seemed like she'd rather grind through another grueling weight cut than answer which path was tougher, winning Olympic gold or an MMA title. She conceded picking a winner was like picking a favorite child, before noting 'I don't have any favorite children.'
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Harrison, of course, is proud to have lived her MMA dream as a single mom and playfully threatened to scold her daughter and son if they were up past midnight to watch her go to work.
Tragedy struck in late 2019 when Harrison's mother had a stroke and her stepfather died months later, leaving Harrison's young niece and nephew without a guardian (her sister was out of the picture).
Harrison became an instant caretaker — and, a mother as she eventually adopted both children.
How about it, Harrison vs. Nunes in the main event of a UFC pay-per-view?
'I'm a mom,' Harrison said, laughing. 'The earlier you put me on the card, the better.'
Nunes, who vacated the 135-pound title when she retired in 2023, is not currently in the UFC's drug testing pool. She needs at least six months of random drug testing before she can compete.
It's a minor hiccup and only builds the hype and anticipation for the bout.
'We're definitely going to see each other in the future,' Nunes told Harrison inside the cage.
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Harrison tapped the UFC championship belt that rested on a news conference table and realized it meant much more than some polished gold that was just wrapped around her waist. What's ahead for Harrison — a super fight, greater riches, maybe even a trip to the White House — pales to what she endured on her journey toward staking her claim as the best in the world.
'I feel like my spirit is unbreakable and my faith is unshakable,' she said. 'Who I am as a person is someone that I'm proud of. Yes, this belt is amazing. But the journey to get here is what matters most to me.'
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