The overwhelming betting favorite, Harrison was expected to beat Pacheco, as she did twice in 2019 when she won all eight rounds, and capture her third PFL championship and third $1 million prize.
Instead, she lost.
That defeat, Harrison told the Journal-News in an exclusive interview Wednesday, forced her to reprioritize her life inside and outside the ring and return to training with a different mentality.
“One of the best years of my life,” Harrison said when asked about the last 12 months. “You know it’s darkest before dawn. I went back to the drawing board, looked at my choices and figured out what I wanted to be physically and spiritually. It was time to grow as a fighter and a mom.”
She called the loss “nothing but a blessing.”
Harrison, 33, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo. When her judo career ended, Harrison took the MMA by storm and quickly became a media darling.
She makes her much-anticipated return to the sport when she faces former UFC standout Aspen Ladd in a non-title fight at 8 p.m. Friday in the PFL SmartCage in Washington, D.C.
Before her first PFL defeat, the last time Harrison lost was in February 2016 in the Judo Grand Slam Paris. That was a warm-up to the 2016 Summer Olympics.
After that loss, Harrison easily won another Olympic gold medal, never surrendering a point.
She expects similar success now.
Harrison said she’s ready to go “on a tear” and “blow up” the MMA.
For a world-class athlete, Harrison, who has two gold medals and millions in purse money, lists Middletown as her home instead of Florida where she lives with her two adopted children.
“I’m a Middie through and through,” she said. “Home is where the heart is. I’m proud to call Middletown home.”
Growing up, Harrison said much of what she accomplished was “out of fear.” She had to get straight A’s, had to win gold medals.
That all has changed.
“I don’t feel like I have to be perfect,” she said. “I have a different balance. Before, fighting was all I had. It was my identity.”
Harrison’s adopted niece, Kyla, and nephew, Emery, whom she took custody in 2020 and adopted two years later, attended her fight last year in New York. Her daughter attends therapy sessions and Harrison was concerned how she may react after watching her mother lose.
When the therapist asked Kyla about visiting New York, she said they ate pizza and came home.
“They don’t care if you win or lose,” Harrison said of her children. “The people who love you don’t care. They just want mom to come home. That opened my eyes. I’m a mom and my purpose in life is to help them grow and love them.”
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