When Kayla Harrison walked into a room full of reporters backstage at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in the early hours of Saturday morning, she hurt.
It wasn’t just the physical toll of her shocking five-round main event loss to Larissa Pacheco (19-4) at 2022 PFL Championships, no. There was an emotional and mental struggle ongoing internally at the podium, but Harrison (15-1) stood tall – even when the tears dripped off her face.
As Harrison put it, her first taste of defeat in MMA made her want to “crawl out of my skin,” but she took on the chin and over the span of approximately 10 minutes of questions and answers, did not make one excuse.
