Kayla Harrison was on hand at the 2025 UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday night in Las Vegas – perhaps a fitting appearance, given she’s about to fight a Hall of Famer.
Harrison, the newly crowned UFC women’s bantamweight champion, is set to face women’s GOAT Amanda Nunes at some point in the future. While no date is set and Nunes will likely need time as she’s coming out of retirement for the high-profile bout, the pair did face off in the cage following Harrison’s win over Julianna Pena at UFC 316 earlier this month.
Harrison (19-1) spoke to Cageside Press on Thursday about how she sees herself getting the job done against “The Lioness,” her former teammate at American Top Team (Nunes has since left the gym).
“I’m just going to go out there and instill my will. Five hard rounds. One round at a time, one minute at a time, one exchange at a time, one breath at a time,” exclaimed Harrison. “And I’m going to win by KO, TKO or submission. I’m going to go out, and I’m going to bring an indominable will, and I’m going to become the greatest of all time.”
A former two-time Olympic gold media winner in Judo who has had her share of personal struggles, and who is an adoptive mother to her sister’s children, Harrison also spoke about what it means to have such a large platform as a UFC champion.
“That was always the goal. Selfishly I fight because I love it. I have a desire and a burning passion inside of me to challenge myself, to step inside of a cage and have them lock the door and have someone try and beat me up and me try to beat them up. So that part is selfish, but the platform, the goal is to use it to be the change in the world that I want to see,” stated Harrison. “To be a light, to spread love and kindness and sometimes have the hard conversations and talk about the hard things. But yeah, it’s also an honor and a privilege that people actually care about what I think.”
As for anyone who might not believe that dreams can come true, Harrison added “have you looked at my life?”
Watch our full interview with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison above.
