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Kayla Harrison explains importance of fighter-mother schedule balance

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Kayla Harrison explains importance of fighter-mother schedule balance

Kayla Harrison admits her day-to-day schedule is incredibly demanding, but she wouldn’t change it for anything.

Not only is the two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka hunting for a championship in the UFC, but Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is also trying to do it as a mother of two adopted children, which makes her work-life balance extremely important.

“I have to keep the balance in check,” Harrison told MMA Junkie Radio. “First of all, I’m the sole breadwinner for our family, so me doing good is important in order to take care of my children, but I have to have a very good balance of being mom and being fighter. It’s hard the closer I get to a fight. … I’m more tired. I’m on more of a calorie deficit. I’m running more. I’m training more and I’m doing the sauna.

“So, when I’m with my kids, I’m with my kids. I’m present. I’m not on my phone. I’m not thinking about my fight. I’m not thinking about the weight I have to cut. I’m trying to be with my children, and I honestly believe it’s made me a better mother.”

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After just one fight in the UFC, Harrison, 34, is potentially one win away from a shot at the women’s bantamweight title. At UFC 307 on Oct. 5, she will face Ketlen Vieira. The division’s title will be on the line in the co-main event when Raquel Pennington looks to defend against Julianna Pena.

A win at UFC 307 will make it hard to deny Harrison a title shot, who entered the promotion as a two-time PFL champion, and beat former champ Holly Holm in her UFC debut.

Professionally, the stakes are as high as ever. Personally, caring for her children is always crucial, and it’s a responsibility that will remain long after her fighting days are over. Harrison has had to learn how to balance everything so that everything gets the appropriate amount of attention without having to sacrifice one or the other.

“Beacuse there’s only 24 hours in a day, and I’m acutely aware of how fast time is flying, it’s made me really suck the juice out of life in both my career and as a mother,” Harrison said. “I’m homeschooling my kids this year. After this fight, we’re going on a week-long road trip through some of the parks in Utah. We get to spend a lot more time together and I just feel truly blessed that – yeah, it’s very difficult.

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“My life is very hard. I’m juggling a lot of things constantly and I have a high-risk, high-reward career. Being a single mom of two children who are adopted, who have trauma, who are also healing, and giving them a safe space, and loving them unconditionally, and being healthy for them, it’s a lot. I juggle a lot. … But it’s made me so much better. Crazily enough, it’s given me a different kind of peace and a different kind of unconditional love and joy. I can’t imagine my life any other way. It’s beautiful.”

A new episode of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is released every Monday and Thursday. You can stream or download all episodes over at Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcher, OmnyStudio, and more.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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Match of the Day 2 analysis: Tottenham lost ‘game of two halves’

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Match of the Day 2 analysis: Tottenham lost 'game of two halves'


Match of the Day 2 pundits Joe Hart, Stephen Warnock and former Brighton manager Graham Potter analyse the Seagulls’ 3-2 victory over Tottenham in the Premier League.

MATCH REPORT: Brighton 3-2 Tottenham

Watch Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer.

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Kevin Holland feels like ‘piece of sh*t,’ but coach confident

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Kevin Holland feels like ‘piece of sh*t,’ but coach confident

Kevin Holland admits his UFC 307 loss stings – literally and figuratively.

Shortly after his TKO defeat due to injury, Holland (26-12 MMA, 13-9 UFC) posted a short statement on Instagram with a screenshot of a critical and insulting direct message he received from one viewer of the fight.

“Can’t have a response to everyone but yeah I feel like a total piece of sh*t,” Holland wrote. “My bad to all the one [sic] who put some bread on the line or told they friend I was gonna win. Ima p*ssy.”

Holland suffered what appeared to be a rib injury late in Round 1 while he was grappling in his main card bout vs. Roman Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC). Holland made it to the end of the round but clutched his side as he rose to his feet.

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Ultimately, Holland’s coach Bob Perez determined his fighter was not in sufficient enough physical condition to continue and signaled to the referee the fight should be called off.

“We took the L last night,” Perez wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “Rib injury while escaping. Could not continue. I called the fight. It sucks, but was the right thing to do. Thank you for the love.”

The extent of the injury is not publicly known, though Holland still appeared to be in severe pain in a post-fight video of him squashing beef with rival Joaquin Buckley.

Saturday was not the first time Holland was rendered unable to continue during a fight, according to Perez’s assessment. In December 2022, Holland severely broke his hand in a fight vs. Stephen Thompson, which lead Perez to make the same call.

“I’ve had fighters say, ‘Coach, I’ll kill you if you ever stop a fight.’ I’m like, ‘Well, you’re going to have to kill me,’” Perez told MMA Junkie in the days after the Thompson fight in December 2022. “… My point that I’m getting to is I’d rather have Kevin mad at me for a bit, than him hating me for the rest of his life or his family hating me. God forbid something terrible, terrible, terrible were to happen, I wouldn’t want to hate myself.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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Joaquin Buckley calls out Kamaru Usman, predicts record KO

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Joaquin Buckley calls out Kamaru Usman, predicts record KO

SALT LAKE CITY – Joaquin Buckley thinks his UFC 307 finish of Stephen Thompson earned him a big fight in the welterweight division, and he’s putting a target on Kamaru Usman’s head.

Buckley (21-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) extended his perfect run since dropped to 170 pounds Saturday when he scored a third-round knockout of former title challenger Thompson at Delta Center. After the fight, he took the microphone and called out Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC).

“(I’m) 5-0 in the welterweight division right now,” Buckley told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at UFC 307. “Me putting on a tear, I feel like at the end of the day Usman being a former champion will kind of prove and cement my name that I should fight for a title next.”

Usman is currently on a three-fight losing skid and hasn’t competed since a majority decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in October 2022. The former titleholder has publicly entertained a variety of matchups in recent months, and also seemed to acknowledge Buckley mentioning his name with some emojis on X.

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For Buckley, 30, he thinks it’s a matchup that will show the world exactly what he’s about in the form of a highlight-reel moment.

“I think I can knock out Usman,” Buckley said. “Immediately – yeah, immediately. Breaking records.”

As Buckley looks to continue his surge to the top of the division, he points to his performance against “Wonderboy” as a confidence-building moment. It was a competitive fight with 19-19, 18-20 and 20-18 scorecards going into the final round.

Buckley took it out of the hands of the judges, though, and he said that was the product of a well-round attack.

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“I knew I just had to mix it up the whole time,” Buckley said. “You can’t just go out there and be one-dimensional, whether that’s just wrestling or striking with ‘Wonderboy.’ You’ve got to mix it up, especially if you’re trying to get him out of there.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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Match of the Day 2 analysis: How Jonny Evans kept Ollie Watkins quiet

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Match of the Day 2 analysis: How Jonny Evans kept Ollie Watkins quiet


Match of the Day 2 pundit Stephen Warnock discusses the “outstanding” performance of Jonny Evans in Manchester United’s 0-0 draw with Aston Villa in the Premier League.

MATCH REPORT: Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester United

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UFC 308 main card revealed, including Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway title fight

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UFC 308 main card revealed, including Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway title fight

The UFC and BMF champions will collide when the octagon returns to Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26.

The company officially announced the UFC 308 main card during Saturday’s UFC 307 broadcast, with 145-pound titleholder Ilia Topuria defending his throne for the first time since stopping Alexander Volkanovski. He faces Max Holloway, a former featherweight king who recently claimed the BMF belt with a epic knockout over Justin Gaethje at lightweight.

The co-main event will feature Robert Whittaker battling undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in a pivotal middleweight contest. Chimaev hasn’t competed since scoring a majority decision over Kamaru Usman in October of 2023, while Whittaker walked through Ikram Aliskerov this past June, obliterating the man that stepped in a replacement for Chimaev in Abu Dhabi.

Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan will open the UFC 308 main card, followed by Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic in a contest that could define the next contender for UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. The third bout on the list is Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige.

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Below is the full fight card and bout lineup for UFC 308.

Main card, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV

Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway

Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev

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Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan

Preliminary Card, 10 a.m. ET, ESPN+

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Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai

Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos

Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira

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Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Justin Tafa

Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo

Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev

Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

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Dana White trashes ‘drowning’ PFL for Kayla Harrison promo

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Dana White trashes ‘drowning’ PFL for Kayla Harrison promo

SALT LAKE CITY – UFC CEO Dana White didn’t hold back in his latest verbal assault on PFL.

Prior to Saturday’s UFC 307 event at Delta Center, PFL put out a promotional video for its upcoming pay-per-view title fight between Larissa Pacheco and Cris Cyborg on Oct. 19 in Saudi Arabia. The video focused on Pacheco’s victory over Kayla Harrison in 2022.

Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) parted ways with PFL one fight after the loss (which was Pacheco’s first win against her in three attempts), and joined the UFC. She has started with back-to-back wins in the octagon, including a unanimous decision over Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307.

White was asked about the promo video following the event, and he said it’s just another example of desperation from the rival promotion, which he claims is bleeding financially.

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“I think when you’re losing as much money as they are, f*cking go for it,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 307 post-fight press conference. “F*cking throw the kitchen sink at it. (Donn Davis) just came out recently and said, ‘You know, we’re going to spend more money than they did on the Sphere.’ That sounds f*cking brilliant. How many tickets are you going to sell?

“They’re not very bright. It’s all fair. Knock yourself out. They’re drowning. Drowning. They suck. They’re not good at what they do, so I guess you would just keep trying anything you can to make something stick. All good.”

Harrison has quickly become an attraction in the women’s bantamweight division upon joining the UFC roster. She has taken her personality to another level, and White said that’s a product of escaping her previous environment.

“It’s just another level when you get here,” White said. “They feel it. You f*cking rot away in the PFL for years or f*cking Bellator and sh*t and you finally get here – you feel it.”

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Harrison will now seemingly get the chance to maximize her potential and platform. She positioned herself as the top contender by beating Vieira, and later in the night at UFC 307 the title in the weight class changed hands when Julianna Peña won a split decision over Raquel Pennington.

White said he eagerly anticipates a showdown between Peña and Harrison.

“When you get here and you start to break into the top five, top three – it gets tougher,” White said. “Julianna and (Kayla) are both dogs, so it should be fun”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

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Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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