00:00Welcome back to Against the Cage. Scott Fontana here again with the UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Kayla Harrison, who on
00:06Saturday puts her belt on the line for the first time against UFC Hall of Famer Amanda Nunez at UFC
00:11334 at Madison Square Garden.
00:14This building, you fought it before, but it wasn't the actual same, right? So what does it mean for you
00:20to be in Garden proper, not the Garden Theater?
00:22Oh man, I can't tell you how excited I am for that. I'm definitely the type of fighter who I
00:28feel like thrives under the bright lights and shines. And I know that this historic venue with this New York
00:38City electric crowd is going to be amazing.
00:40What did you think kind of of the environment previously? Because again, you do have a little bit of a
00:45taste of the Garden.
00:46I loved it. I loved it. Even though I'm a Bostonian, I loved it. I also am a member of
00:54the New York Athletic Club, and they have sponsored me since I was 16 and a nobody.
00:59So I have ties here and roots here, and yeah, I love it here.
01:05But you're a Red Sox fan?
01:06But go Sox.
01:08It's going to be a tough one.
01:09Go Sox! Should I say that after I beat Amanda? Should I just get on the mic and be like,
01:14go Sox!
01:15I'd be curious what the experiment would be like. I kind of want to say that.
01:17They'd probably throw shit at me.
01:18Yeah, they might. They might. But you'd be surprised. I think that'll give you respect if that happens, right?
01:23But obviously, you know, we are here now. This was a fight that was obviously supposed to take place in
01:27January, delayed for the reasons we've talked about, adenoseum, your neck surgery, your recovery from that.
01:33At what point, because obviously there's a road that you had to walk down.
01:37At what point and maybe what barrier did you have to cross to be like, you know what? I'm ready.
01:42I can start training. I can really fight now.
01:43Well, it was a lot longer journey than I had anticipated. In my mind, I was going to fight at
01:51the White House.
01:52So, I had never had neck surgery or spinal surgery before. I didn't really realize the severity, I think, of
02:02the situation.
02:03And so, I don't think it was a flick of a switch or like a specific moment where I said
02:09I was ready.
02:09It was a very long, you know, eight weeks in a neck brace. Couldn't lift more than 20 pounds.
02:14Then after that, I couldn't lift more than 50 pounds. And then after that, like, it was a very slow
02:19journey to get back to where I am.
02:24And I think that that is kind of the beauty of it is like, I spent a lot of time
02:29questioning if I could come back, if I would come back.
02:32And like, more importantly, really, like, if I was ever going to feel like me again, like I was pretty,
02:39I was pretty down.
02:40And so, I think there is power in showing up every day. And even when you don't believe it, even
02:51when you doubt it, even when you feel like crap, like every day I showed up and it got me
02:59back to here.
03:00Now, obviously, and we were talking about this just before, you're a single mother, a proud single mother of two
03:05kids.
03:05Yes.
03:07You're going through this recovery.
03:08Yeah.
03:08You can't lift 20 pounds. You can't do all these things.
03:10Yeah.
03:11And obviously, you've had great success in your career that's given you some resources, but you still want to be
03:16able to do all those things for your kids.
03:17Yes.
03:17What was that like as a mother kind of going through all that?
03:20I mean, it was tough. I'm, you know, I'm very blessed that, number one, my daughter's getting older, so she's
03:27able to help out more.
03:27And I did have my whole team, my friends, like, you know, they're, we call them their crazy aunts. We're
03:33all there helping out. So I have really had an absolute village behind me supporting me.
03:38But it's also, you know, I think that as a mother, we are the, we kind of set the tone,
03:47you know?
03:47So it was hard in that sense that, like, I'm waking up depressed every day.
03:53Like, I don't want my kids to feel that energy all the time. So it was a struggle. And I
03:58had a lot of support around me. And, you know, I, I thank God for my kids every day.
04:04Like, there wasn't a single day we sit down every morning and we do a little devotional and we, we
04:09pray. And I would say, okay, who wants to pray first? And I mean, you know, some of those days
04:14we'd be, I'd be crying.
04:15But every single day, my kids would say, like, they would pray for me, for my neck, for my healing,
04:21for like it. And that's like a different kind of, I guess, peace where it was like, I'm scared because
04:31my neck, because of this.
04:33But like my kids, I've made a difference in, I have, I don't know how to say it. Like, I'm
04:42just grateful that we are who we are. And we have, they have a faith that they have helped me
04:50to have as well, I guess.
04:52It's reciprocal, it sounds like.
04:53Yeah, like I, yeah, I never, sometimes it's hard. Like, you know, I believe, but help my unbelief. Like, and
05:02I think this is common in sports and in life. And my kids never wavered. And so they never stopped
05:07believing in me or believing that it was going to be okay. And it's powerful.
05:11That's the great thing about kids, too.
05:13Yeah, yeah.
05:14Now, obviously, the neck issue, if I understand correct, correct me if I'm wrong, this was kind of an ongoing
05:19thing that you've dealt with over the years. And it kind of maybe got progressively worse to the point where
05:23it's like, okay, this is the point of no return. I have to do something about it. How does your
05:26neck feel? Let's say now, compared to that point, and compared to maybe previous points where it was like, you
05:32really had to deal with this?
05:33Well, my neck feels 100%. Which I kind of wish I had known that that would happen sooner.
05:41You might have done something sooner.
05:43I might have done something sooner.
05:44You know, my, you know, probably, I mean, every single camp I would have, I would have a flare up
05:52and I would be like, you know, on muscle relaxers, on pain pills, on whatever.
05:57And then by the end, it got to the point where there was going to be permanent nerve damage.
06:04That's why I had to have the surgery.
06:05Like, it was just like my nerves were completely blocked off and I was having lightning bolts down my arm.
06:11I think I slept like maybe two hours the last five days before the surgery, just because I would fall
06:18asleep and the lightning bolt would wake me up.
06:19And like, it was brutal.
06:21And now it's not.
06:23I, yeah, it's, life is good.
06:25Sure.
06:26Yeah.
06:26And obviously you're here.
06:27This is, this is a giant stage.
06:29This is, this is the marquee fight that you've really craved.
06:32This one in particular, but really big fights in general.
06:34So just, just to be at this point where you are fighting one of the absolute legends of this sport.
06:40Yeah.
06:40What does it mean to be a part of this moment?
06:43It's an honor and a privilege.
06:44You know, I think that, um, I think that my body of work speaks for itself.
06:50I think that I deserve to be here.
06:52And, um, I do believe that I am the best in the world right now.
06:55And I'm going to go out on Saturday night and prove that.
06:57And I'm grateful to Amanda.
06:58I'm grateful to her for, for also coming back and for waiting for me after I had neck surgery.
07:03And I think that this is exciting because it's two women who truly believe they are the best.
07:09And we're going to go find out.
07:11That's awesome.
07:11And, and obviously too, this is, you guys both have something to prove, right?
07:17You're coming off a neck surgery.
07:18It is your first title defense.
07:19You've not defended this championship yet.
07:21She's also trying to prove, Hey, I've come back after three years.
07:24I still have it.
07:25Who has more to prove?
07:27I mean, I don't agree with your statement.
07:29I don't think either of us have anything to prove.
07:31I think that, um, yeah, I think that we're both, we can do whatever we want, you know,
07:37and there's freedom in that.
07:39And I think that that makes that, it makes it more exciting.
07:42Like I don't have anything to prove.
07:44She doesn't have anything to prove, but we want to prove something to ourselves.
07:47Okay.
07:48Flawed question.
07:49No, no, no, no.
07:50I just, I'm just like, I'm like, I don't, I don't feel that way.
07:53That's fair.
07:53And that's fair.
07:54I shouldn't put words in your mouth, but I do have to ask you too, because again,
07:57you guys have a lot of history.
07:58Yeah.
07:58It's well documented.
07:59We've talked about it in the past for years too.
08:01And like the fact that you guys were, were friendly, you know, you, you, you'd go to
08:04birthday parties for your kids and you train together and all this stuff.
08:08It would probably work friends.
08:09It's probably a fair description.
08:10A hundred percent.
08:11Work friends.
08:12But how does it feel now to be at this point where you're not really dealing with Kayla
08:16Harris or Amanda Nunes, the, you know, the person.
08:20We're not friends anymore.
08:21Right.
08:21Right.
08:21Yeah.
08:21There's no friendship.
08:22It's really just Amanda Nunes, the fighter.
08:25You're not looking at her in any other way anymore.
08:27Yeah.
08:27What does it mean for you to kind of face this moment now where it's really almost here?
08:32I mean, I'm excited.
08:33Yeah.
08:33You know, I felt it yesterday at the face off in Times Square.
08:38Like we were both sitting on the side of the stage, but we were just staring at each
08:41other.
08:42And in the past, our face offs have been a little more friendly or, you know, hugs or
08:46a cutie, you know, and it's, this ain't that it's fight week.
08:50It's here.
08:51We're not friends.
08:52It's not personal.
08:52It's for me.
08:53It's not personal.
08:53It's just business.
08:54And I'm going to go out there and I'm going to prove why I'm the best.
08:57And she's echoed that as well.
08:58Yeah.
08:58It sounds like.
08:59So there's, you're certainly coming around and on the same plane too, which is interesting.
09:02And you obviously have a lot you can kind of draw, right?
09:05Fighters do evolve over time, of course, but like she's a 38 year fighter.
09:08She's been fighting for a very long time.
09:10At what point do you kind of say, okay, maybe I can lean on past experience or maybe it's
09:14like, okay, I really can't do that.
09:18What do you, I'm trying to understand the question.
09:20As far as kind of the fact that you know a lot about the way she fights, which is different,
09:26but also what can you take away from that?
09:28If anything.
09:28I mean, realistically, like everyone always, you know, we, we do video review and we talk
09:34about, and my coaches know her and all this and all that, but like I can only control me
09:39and my job is to go out there and implement my game plan and instill my will one round at
09:43a time, one minute at a time, one exchange at a time, one breath at a time.
09:45I, I think that, um, yes, of course, knowing her, knowing her style is important, but I
09:56mean, everyone also knows my style, you know, like it's not like that much has changed over
10:00the years.
10:01It's just like, can you stop it?
