Kayla Harrison Reveals How She Won Olympic Gold on a Diet of “Pizza Rolls and Diet Coke”
Pizza rolls and Diet Coke fueled Kayla Harrison’s Olympic dreams.
Before becoming a PFL and UFC champion, Harrison became the first American judoka to take home gold at the Olympic Games. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that she achieved this feat twice, winning gold in both 2012 and 2016.
You’d think that someone competing at the highest possible level would have a fairly strict training regimine and diet to match. But as it turns out, Harrison is much more conscious of what she puts in her body today than she was a decade ago.
“I gave myself two weeks after my fight to enjoy, I didn’t go crazy but ate not to plan,” Harrison told MMA Junkie while looking back on her bantamweight title-winning performance against Julianna Pena. “Now I’m back in the gym training every day, not three times a day, just once a day continuing to get better, waiting for the call. Not doing slow steady cardio but back on a meal plan, eating clean with balance and moderation.
If we go to a party or out with kids, I still enjoy that but I have to be more disciplined with diet than ever. I won Olympics on pizza rolls and Diet Coke, so this is new but good, helping me live cleaner, healthier.”
‘The Lioness’ is next for Kayla Harrison
Harrison has not yet booked her first 135-pound title defense, but we already know it’ll come against one of the greatest female fighters the sport has ever seen.
Immediately following Harrison’s second-round submission win over Pena, former two-division queen Amanda Nunes stepped inside the Octagon for a face-off, signaling that her retirement was officially over and that she’s coming to take back the title she laid down in 2023.
When and where Harrison vs. Nunes takes place remains to be seen. Still, their inevitable clash is already being regarded as the biggest fight in women’s mixed martial arts history and one of the most anticipated UFC fights of all time, regardless of gender.
