"The AH and KH" - Kayla Harrison wants a Daniel Cormier-esque team-up with Ariel Helwani
Judo Olympic gold medalist and PFL fighter Kayla Harrison envisioned a role alongside noted combat sports reporter Ariel Helwani on his show.
In her recent appearance on Helwani's The MMA Hour, Harrison outlined her plan and pitched to the host. She referenced former UFC double champ Daniel Cormier and his partnership with former American football player Ryan Clark on their sports podcast, DC & RC, where the two talk all things mixed martial arts and discuss important fight cards in the world of combat sports.
Kayla Harrison and Ariel Helwani discussed the proposition and also its feasibility with regards to Harrison's professional contract:
“You know I was thinking the other day, you know how DC, your old buddy, they have that DC and RC [Sure, I’ve heard of it, never seen it], we could do the AH and KH. [Oh wow, you want in on this empire?] I mean, who wouldn’t want a piece of that pie? [Are you allowed to be a part of this empire?] I mean, I’m pretty sure I can do whatever I want, last time I checked. [That’s true, you can, that’s why we love you, you certainly can]”
Kayla Harrison details the aftermath of her first professional loss last year
Kayla Harrison suffered the first loss of her career in November last year in the final of the women's lightweight tournament. Her loss to Larissa Pacheco was particularly difficult for her to deal with as she explained in her interview.
Harrison mentioned how much it meant to her to compete professionally:
“I was puffy, I was sad, I was depressed. Yeah, of course. I mean, look, I’m a type A, driven, obsessive psycho and I talk a big game and I want everything that I say I want. So yeah, dealing with a loss is not a walk in the park for me. I know it probably sounds trivial to maybe a lot of people but this is what I do. It’s really important to me, I put a lot of effort and energy and time and a lot of people around me put a lot of energy and time into that so, it was humbling and it was hard. I don’t want to call it rock bottom but nothing, nothing stings quite like the pain of failure... You just wanna crawl out of your skin.”
Kayla Harrison will make her return against former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd on November 24, 2023 in a catchweight bout.
Check out her full comments below [1:00:54]: