Kayla Harrison admits she was “scared” of cutting to bantamweight, reveals her fight night weight at UFC 300

Kayla Harrison admits she was nervous to cut down to bantamweight in her Octagon debut at UFC 300 on Saturday.

Harrison was a marquee free agent signing by the UFC, but she would have to drop down to bantamweight for the first time in her career. Harrison had been fighting at 155lbs in the PFL, so she was set to drop and extra 20lbs for her UFC debut, which left her admittedly concerned.

Kayla Harrison: The entire camp I was scared. Not of the fight, of the weight. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/i0ROXJMvlV

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 15, 2024

“I mean the entire camp I was scared. Not of the fight, the weight. I was scared, I haven’t weighed 135lbs since I was 16 years old. On the test cut, I got down to 140,” Harrison said on The MMA Hour. “I walked away from millions of dollars, of pretty much guaranteed money to gamble on this, to take a chance. I got real quiet, I got real still, I prayed and this is where God was calling me to go. This was my dream and this is why I started MMA in the first place. I was all in. But, I didn’t know if I was going to make weight, I can’t believe I made weight.”

“I got down to 137 on Thursday night, and then I ate and drank a little bit. I drake more than I was supposed to, because I probably would have floated (the last pound). But, I really wanted to sleep so I drank a little bit. I woke up and I was still a pound over. The last pound was really hard, the last pound was the hardest part for sure,” Harrison said.

Kayla Harrison says the last pound did take a bit to get off, which made her nervous she would miss weight. But, she was able to get that last pound off and make weight for her UFC debut. Although the weight cut was tough, Harrison rehydrated well as she says she was 154lbs on Saturday morning and weighed in at 160lbs with her clothes at the arena.

In her UFC debut, Harrison scored a second-round submission win over Holly Holm. With the victory, Harrison could be fighting for UFC gold next time out.