A teenage girl writes in her journal:
"God, please end my life."
Years later, she published those pages in a book.
So other kids might not have to go through what she did.
That girl is Kayla Harrison.
The girl who wanted to die became the woman nobody can beat.
Middletown, Ohio.
Her mom first studied judo for self-defense, so Kayla started at 6.
At 8, a coach named Daniel Doyle took her on.
He sexually abused her for years. She says it may have started before she was 12.
She kept it secret from embarrassment and shame until a car ride home from a tournament, when she finally screamed it to a friend. The friend pulled over and made Kayla call her mom.
Her mom went to Doyle's house with a baseball bat and beat up his truck.
Then she went straight to the police.
The FBI got involved. Doyle pleaded guilty and got 10 years.
Within a month, her mom sent her 14 hours away, to a dojo in Massachusetts run by Jimmy Pedro and his father, Big Jim.
She hated all of it. Judo became her prison. She thought about running away, quitting, even suicide.
Then one morning after a run, Big Jim sat with her on the steps and told her it happened to her, but it didn't define her.
She calls that the turning point.
Big Jim doesn't even remember saying it. She made the turn herself.
2010 world champion.
2012, London. The first American to ever win Olympic gold in judo.
2016, Rio. Gold again.
Most fans have no idea how deep it goes.
More than 60 judo gold medals. Worlds, World Masters, Grand Slams, Grand Prix, Pan American Games.
The youngest American ever to reach 6th degree black belt.
Six halls of fame.
Kurt Angle used to show off his medal collection every Monday night. Henry would bring his in the cage and to press conferences.
Kayla's two Olympic golds sit in stories and stat lines from the media. She doesn't show them off.
But then the bottom fell out a different way.
"I didn't have a goal, I didn't have something to wake up for."
Lying in bed all day, watching TV.
So she started over.
MMA. The PFL. A $1 million tournament win in 2019.
Then life hit again.
Her mom had a stroke. Her stepfather died months later.
Her niece and nephew needed someone. Kayla was that someone. She took them in, then adopted them both.
"YOU GUYS IM A MOM OF TWO!!!"
Those are the two gold medals she shows off.
That same week, she won the PFL again. Another million.
She came to the UFC as the biggest star the PFL ever had, carrying the same hype every Bellator and PFL star brings with them.
Most of them couldn't follow through. She did.
Holly Holm at UFC 300. Ketlen Vieira. Then Julianna Pe帽a at UFC 316, a kimura, and the belt. In her third UFC fight.
That same night, Amanda Nunes walked into the cage to face her.
The fight was set for January.
Two weeks out, she couldn't lift her arm. Lightning bolts of pain. Five hours of sleep in five days.
She flew to New York by herself and Ubered to the hospital. Jumped into surgery the next day, unsure if she would ever be herself again, let alone compete.
Five herniated discs. A neck fusion. Eight weeks in a neck brace.
No excuses to the media. No pointing fingers. She just went to work to get back.
She could have come back against anybody for a safe defense.
She wanted Amanda Nunes.
Not out of spite. Out of respect. She sees Amanda's greatness, and she values the chance to show her own.
Two Olympic golds. A world title. Two PFL championships. The UFC belt. And more medals, awards, and recognition than we can list.
Kayla Harrison is one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time.
She's 36 now.
19-1. Undefeated in the UFC. 2-0 as a mother.
Saturday she is back in New York, at Madison Square Garden, across from Amanda Nunes, the only competition left.
Kayla says she's already satisfied with her career.
Saturday is just for her.
The girl who once begged God to end her life is now a mom of two, an Olympic legend, and the champion walking into the Garden.
She already found greatness.
That teenage girl with the journal didn't just make it.
She became the one other kids read about.
#UFC334
"God, please end my life."
Years later, she published those pages in a book.
So other kids might not have to go through what she did.
That girl is Kayla Harrison.
The girl who wanted to die became the woman nobody can beat.
Middletown, Ohio.
Her mom first studied judo for self-defense, so Kayla started at 6.
At 8, a coach named Daniel Doyle took her on.
He sexually abused her for years. She says it may have started before she was 12.
She kept it secret from embarrassment and shame until a car ride home from a tournament, when she finally screamed it to a friend. The friend pulled over and made Kayla call her mom.
Her mom went to Doyle's house with a baseball bat and beat up his truck.
Then she went straight to the police.
The FBI got involved. Doyle pleaded guilty and got 10 years.
Within a month, her mom sent her 14 hours away, to a dojo in Massachusetts run by Jimmy Pedro and his father, Big Jim.
She hated all of it. Judo became her prison. She thought about running away, quitting, even suicide.
Then one morning after a run, Big Jim sat with her on the steps and told her it happened to her, but it didn't define her.
She calls that the turning point.
Big Jim doesn't even remember saying it. She made the turn herself.
2010 world champion.
2012, London. The first American to ever win Olympic gold in judo.
2016, Rio. Gold again.
Most fans have no idea how deep it goes.
More than 60 judo gold medals. Worlds, World Masters, Grand Slams, Grand Prix, Pan American Games.
The youngest American ever to reach 6th degree black belt.
Six halls of fame.
Kurt Angle used to show off his medal collection every Monday night. Henry would bring his in the cage and to press conferences.
Kayla's two Olympic golds sit in stories and stat lines from the media. She doesn't show them off.
But then the bottom fell out a different way.
"I didn't have a goal, I didn't have something to wake up for."
Lying in bed all day, watching TV.
So she started over.
MMA. The PFL. A $1 million tournament win in 2019.
Then life hit again.
Her mom had a stroke. Her stepfather died months later.
Her niece and nephew needed someone. Kayla was that someone. She took them in, then adopted them both.
"YOU GUYS IM A MOM OF TWO!!!"
Those are the two gold medals she shows off.
That same week, she won the PFL again. Another million.
She came to the UFC as the biggest star the PFL ever had, carrying the same hype every Bellator and PFL star brings with them.
Most of them couldn't follow through. She did.
Holly Holm at UFC 300. Ketlen Vieira. Then Julianna Pe帽a at UFC 316, a kimura, and the belt. In her third UFC fight.
That same night, Amanda Nunes walked into the cage to face her.
The fight was set for January.
Two weeks out, she couldn't lift her arm. Lightning bolts of pain. Five hours of sleep in five days.
She flew to New York by herself and Ubered to the hospital. Jumped into surgery the next day, unsure if she would ever be herself again, let alone compete.
Five herniated discs. A neck fusion. Eight weeks in a neck brace.
No excuses to the media. No pointing fingers. She just went to work to get back.
She could have come back against anybody for a safe defense.
She wanted Amanda Nunes.
Not out of spite. Out of respect. She sees Amanda's greatness, and she values the chance to show her own.
Two Olympic golds. A world title. Two PFL championships. The UFC belt. And more medals, awards, and recognition than we can list.
Kayla Harrison is one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time.
She's 36 now.
19-1. Undefeated in the UFC. 2-0 as a mother.
Saturday she is back in New York, at Madison Square Garden, across from Amanda Nunes, the only competition left.
Kayla says she's already satisfied with her career.
Saturday is just for her.
The girl who once begged God to end her life is now a mom of two, an Olympic legend, and the champion walking into the Garden.
She already found greatness.
That teenage girl with the journal didn't just make it.
She became the one other kids read about.
#UFC334
