Kayla Harrison: Ronda Rousey should break from 'people who don't have her best interests at heart'

Kayla Harrison knows a few things about Ronda Rousey. The two judo standouts used to train together, after all.

And though Harrison, who won Olympic gold medals in judo at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games, has not yet fought in MMA, the WSOF signee believes Rousey may have some “soul searching” in order after her second straight knockout loss nearly a week ago at UFC 207 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes (14-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) ripped through Rousey (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in just 48 seconds in the UFC 207 main event, denying Rousey’s chance to win back the belt she once dominantly held.

Harrison, fresh off a commentating gig for WSOF at WSOF 34 this past Saturday in New York, told TMZ she thought Rousey’s return after a 13-month layoff would have turned out differently.

“I really expected her to come back with a vengeance and come back bigger and better than ever,” Harrison told TMZ. “But I’m not with her now. I don’t know what her training has been like. I don’t know where her head’s at. When I talked to her a couple weeks ago, she seemed good about (the fight).

“I think really one thing I’d have done differently – I wouldn’t have had her fight for the title right away. She probably should have had a match before that match, just to get back into the swing of things.”

Harrison also implied, as have many others since Rousey’s loss to Nunes, that the former champ might be better off moving on from longtime coach Edmond Tarverdyan.

Harrison didn’t mention Tarverdyan by name – unlike Rousey’s mother, who has publicly ripped her coach in the past – but said the Southern Californian should go back to her roots.

“At the end of the day, I’m her friend, and my heart goes out to her, so I don’t want to sit here and talk about what she could’ve, would’ve, should’ve done. I really just hope she’s OK. … I think she really does need to do some soul searching. She needs to figure out what she wants to do with her life and what she wants to accomplish and what really makes Ronda happy.

“I think she has a lot of people around her who maybe don’t have Ronda’s best interests at heart. So I think she should take a good, hard look at that and maybe go back to the Day Ones. Maybe go back to her family. Maybe go back to her original coaches who helped her be successful and maybe say, ‘OK, these people I know really do care about me as Ronda – not as a fighter, not as a money-making machine, not as an actress, not as a celebrity, but as Ronda.”

Rousey has made just one public statement since the loss to Nunes, and it was vague. She indicated she needed time to think about what she’ll do next. In the buildup to UFC 207, many expected the fight to be Rousey’s last no matter what happened.

Harrison signed with WSOF after her successful 2016 Olympic run, but has not yet fought and hasn’t booked a fight. She told TMZ commentating at WSOF 34 gave her a little spark and rekindled her desire to compete again. She called the chances she’ll fight MMA soon “60-40.”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve completely made up my mind because I’ve still never had someone punch me in the face, and I’ve still never had someone put me in a cage and lock the door,” she said. “But I miss competing and I miss being the best in the world at what I do. I miss that feeling of not just being on the sidelines. So we’ll see.”

For complete coverage of UFC 207, check out the UFC Events section of the site.