After signing with the promotion earlier this year, Kayla Harrison made her second outing at UFC 307 last weekend, cementing herself as the next women’s bantamweight title challenger.
The Olympic gold medalist picked up her second win under the UFC banner, beating Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision in a relatively lackluster performance.
Despite that, she cemented herself as the next title challenger as Julianna Pena reclaimed the 135lb title on the same evening, dethroning Raquel Pennington.
The title picture got slightly more confusing, though, when Amanda Nunes posted a video earlier this week, begging UFC CEO Dana White to call her as she misses fighting.
Expert nutritionist concerned by Kayla Harrison’s recent admission
Although Kayla Harrison picked up the win over Vieira, she wasn’t entirely pleased with her performance and following the fight revealed that one of the reasons she didn’t perform to her potential, was because she was hospitalized a week prior for ‘peeing blood’.
The former PFL lightweight champion didn’t disclose the cause of her health complication, however, with her extreme weight-cutting procedure, that is likely the cause.
Since joining the UFC, the 34-year-old has had to majorly adjust her camp routine as she has been having to cut to 136lbs whereas she spent the majority of her career competing at 155lbs.
Expert nutritionist, Tom Coughlin, who has worked with several high-level sports athletes, told Bloody Elbow that he is concerned with Harrison’s approach to cutting weight, explaining what she must do to avoid further issues.
“Harrison’s experience certainly is a concerning one. I thought a more balanced (albeit still risky) approach would be to drop body weight and muscle mass as to not be in a position where she has to use extreme dehydration to achieve successful weigh-in.
“It’s quite clear from her fights so far in the UFC that she and her team are using dehydration as a significant part of her weight-cut process. And although I haven’t seen exact numbers, it looks like dehydration far in excess of the recommended 5% drop in body weight through cutting water weight.
“Blood in the urine (haematuria) will be an indicator of kidney dysfunction. Regarding kidney function and blood in the urine, there has been published scientific data on the effects of rapid weight loss on kidney function/acute kidney damage,” Coughlin explained.
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What Kayla Harrison must do to avoid further health complications regarding weight-cutting
The issue of unsafe weight-cutting in MMA has long been one of the most concerning parts of the sport and if Harrison is to challenge for the bantamweight title and eventually become champion, she will need to alter her ways of cutting weight.
Known for her ridiculously phenomenal physique, Harrison carries a significant amount of muscle mass, and that’s one of the attributes that makes her so dominant in the cage.
Despite that, Coughlin believes that if she wants to avoid any further health complications, she must adjust her walkaround weight and lose muscle mass.
“It’s certainly a health risk factor for her and her team to consider going forward. I do believe that if she wants to continually make 136 lbs or challenge for the bantamweight title, she will need to look at adapting her walkaround weight/body composition and ideally lose a bit of her muscle mass.”