Harrison favored for UFC bantamweight title
Kayla Harrison is fighting for the UFC women s bantamweight championship Saturday night at UFC A two-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison dominated her five-year run in the Professional Fighters League winning of her bouts The only American to ever win Olympic gold in judo she also won her first two bouts in the UFC And she enters the title bout as a colossal favorite But Harrison was not dependably the favorite In fact she was far from it I ve been through the worst of the worst mentioned Harrison Nothing in that cage can break me Harrison s father committed suicide Her sister battled addiction And she lost her innocence and confidence and self-worth as a teenager when her coach back in Ohio sexually abused her On the cusp of tragedy Harrison s mother made a life-altering decision by moving her daughter to Boston That is where Harrison trained with the Pedro family who instilled an entirely new sense of purpose and pride in her life I believe in God reported Harrison In my hardest moments God gave me the voice to say I won t give up Moving to Boston that was God in my life I was this -year-old car wreck I was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and I was suicidal My mom didn t know what to do with me but she knew that if I didn t have a goal if I didn t have something to wake up for then I was going to end up dead or addicted to drugs So she moved me to Boston And the Pedros didn t just change my life they saved my life They maintained in me when I didn t believe in myself They gave me a safe place and a lot of tough love They didn t baby me they built me into an unstoppable force I attribute a lot of my mental toughness and success to them Harrison s unbreakable spirit has been visible in the build to her title fight at UFC which takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark N J She successfully cut weight hitting pounds on the scale during Friday s weigh-in an agonizing ordeal for someone whose natural weight is closer to And she has one more essential obstacle in her way and that is reigning champion Julianna Pe a It s going to be a battle of will skill and heart noted Harrison I feel like I m the better fighter everywhere a better striker a better grappler and a better fight IQ I just need to go out there and fight my fight She s going to be tough but I m pretty tough too Throughout the fight realm it is not out of the ordinary to see fighters sell their soul in pursuit of gold Yet Harrison s story is different It is that search for greatness which defines her A favorite after a lifetime as an underdog Harrison enters this title bout in a position of power and she intends to fight for those who cannot I m fighting for the voiceless reported Harrison I m fighting for the sufferers who don t know that they re survivors I m fighting for the people who don t want to wake up I m fighting for the single moms I m fighting for Boston I m fighting for my country I m fighting for God And I m so excited to prove to the world that I am who I say I am
