Kayla Harrison recalls the beginning of her MMA career, Amanda Nunes sparring session ahead of imminent UFC return

Kayla Harrison has opened up about how her MMA journey commenced after an extraordinary Judo career. Additionally, the American martial artist revisited her first sparring session against training-partner-turned-rival, Amanda Nunes. 

Harrison is a former two-time PFL women's lightweight titleholder as well as the reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion. Prior to her MMA career, she achieved tremendous success as a Judoka.

The fearsome combatant captured Olympic gold in the 78-kg category in Judo at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

Harrison was booked to defend her UFC bantamweight championship against former UFC women's bantamweight and featherweight titlist Amanda Nunes. They were to clash at UFC 324 in January of this year, but a neck injury ruled her out of the long-awaited dream matchup against Nunes. 

Kayla Harrison sheds light on how her MMA career began

In an appearance on the UFC's "Becoming a Fighter" hosted by longtime UFC interviewer Megan Olivi, Kayla Harrison recently touched upon various topics. She notably spoke about battling post-Olympic depression after her second Olympic gold medal victory. 

Harrison indicated that she went from being a teetotaler and someone who hadn't watched much television and other OTT content to being a "couch potato" who'd binge-watch several episodes of multiple shows. The retired Judo competitor implied that she'd gone from being a high-level Olympian to drinking and attending social events. 

Harrison explained, "I was depressed. And my buddy invited me to a striking class." She recalled being told that she'd love it and added, "I was back in my body again and sweating; like, it was fun. So I started going to class. And I think about a month after I started doing the striking class, I sparred for the first time." 

She continued, "And this, like, little 115-pounder teeped the sh** out of my face. And I was like, 'What is this?' It was amazing. I was hooked." 

The 35-year-old highlighted the unique situation she was in -- noting that she was an elite Olympic champion who'd already reached the pinnacle of Judo, whilst simultaneously being a novice in the sport of MMA. 

Kayla Harrison harks back to her first sparring session with Amanda Nunes

Kayla Harrison pointed out that her venture into mixed martial arts pushed her to shift base to the world-renowned ATT (American Top Team) gym in Florida, so that she could train with the likes of MMA legend Amanda Nunes. 

Harrison has been recovering from her neck injury and is eyeing a title defense against Nunes, who herself unretired last year. During her conversation with Megan Olivi, she claimed that her first sparring session against "The Lioness" at ATT went quite well despite her being comparatively less experienced in MMA. 

Harrison said, "The second day (at American Top Team), I sparred Amanda (Nunes), actually." When asked how it went, she said, "Great. You know you're not supposed to talk about sparring. But it went great. I mean, she's why I moved down here." 

The grappling savant emphasized that her view was that she ought to train alongside the best if she wants to be the best. Speaking of which, Nunes departed ATT in 2022 and started training at her own gym.

The Brazilian-American suggested that her coaches at ATT training Harrison -- one of her chief rivals -- played a significant role in the split. Here in June 2026, the UFC has yet to officially announce the much-awaited Harrison-Nunes fight's date after their original booking fell through earlier this year. 

 

Watch Kayla Harrison discuss her MMA career's origin and first sparring session against Amanda Nunes below (*comments at the 28:00-minute mark of the video):