UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison and former titleholder Ronda Rousey have known each other for nearly two decades. The two worked out together while the older Rousey was preparing for the Olympic Games.
Rousey became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in Judo by taking home the bronze in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Four years later, Harrison would win the gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics and followed it up with another gold medal in the 2016 games.
While Harrison holds the UFC women’s 135-pound championship, Rousey stepped away from the sport in 2016 after suffering back-to-back knockout losses. “Rowdy” stunned the sports world when she announced that she’s returning to the cage this summer against fellow women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano on Netflix.
“I don’t think we should talk about this because I don’t think I have anything nice to say,” Harrison said about Rousey’s return during an appearance on Death Row MMA.
“She said this is the best female fight of all time, Harrison said. “How old is Gina, though? She hasn’t fought in 17 years. Like, shut up.”
Rousey has been promoting the May 16 event by making the media rounds. Harrison maintains that Rousey has been taking a lot of creative liberty with some of the stories she’s been telling.
“I saw something the other day … Ronda was like talking about back in the day. So, in judo we have this thing called like they put a red sash on you. It’s not. It’s Ippon Dori. So, like they put a red sash on you and you’re out in the middle and it’s live goes. Sorry, there’s no red sash. It’s just Ippon Dori. If you throw, whoever wins stays, right?
“King of the hill, last man standing. No time limit. Like, we could have a 30 second go because I throw you, or 30 minutes,” Harrison explained. “And so she’s like online telling this story about how like, ‘Yeah. I had a lot of pride so I’d be out there for an hour and then finally, you know, with these girls and a 90 kilo guy would take pity on me and come out and throw me.’ I’m like, dude, that is like literally a blatant f*cking lie. Like now you’re just making shit up that never happened.”
Harrison was scheduled to face former two-time titleholder Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 in January. Harrison was forced out of the bout due to herniated discs in her neck that required surgery to repair. She continues to recover.
