This Women’s Fight Was Supposed to Suck — Then Kayla Harrison Called Out a Legend. You Should Too.”
Kayla Harrison, UFC 316, and Why Most People Are Too Scared to Market Their Own Work ✍️ Joshua Dent
Let’s be honest.
You’re sitting in your buddy’s living room, three beers deep. The last fight was a war. Someone’s got their dirty feet on the coffee table — despite the very clear warning from the wife before she left. No one remembers the undercard, no one knows who's fighting next.
Then the screen cuts to two women walking out: sports bras, compression tights, traps that look like they bench press small cars.
And like a reflex — you hear it:
“Oh man. Just when this shit was getting good…”
Someone mutters something about Amanda Nunes. Maybe one guy says “That’s the chick who subbed her, right?” but everyone’s already reaching for snacks or their phone.
The vibe dies. Bathroom break time.
Except this time — the story changed.
💥 Kayla Harrison Showed Up Like a War Crime in Yoga Pants
Kayla Harrison didn’t just make her UFC bantamweight debut — she violated it.
She dropped from 145 to 135 pounds for the first time ever. Said she would’ve “chopped off her leg” to make weight — and honestly, I believe her. She walked into UFC 316 looking like every drop of water had been wrung from her body and replaced with spite.
Then she absolutely dismantled Julianna Peña.
Dominated every second of the fight
Snapped transitions like a machine with no off switch
Cranked a kimura at the end of Round 2 so vicious it made Daniel Cormier narrate the biomechanics of shoulder death for three full minutes
And then?
She grabbed the mic and said the one name every casual and hardcore fan would recognize:
“I want Amanda Nunes.”
🦁 Amanda Nunes: The Queen Who Doesn’t Flinch
23–5 overall.
13 KOs. 4 submissions.
First and only woman to hold two UFC titles at the same time.
Retired in 2023. Hall of Fame by 2025.
She was sitting cageside in Newark, watching like a retired queen at the edge of the arena. Calm. Coiled.
And when Kayla called her name?
She didn’t flinch.
She stood up. Stepped into the cage.
And smiled.
That “I’ve murdered legends before” smile.
And she said: yes.
🥊 Julianna Peña: The Warrior Who Showed Up Anyway
This ain’t slander. Peña’s a dog.
She shocked the world by submitting Nunes at UFC 269. She took risks. Took damage. She didn’t fold.
But this wasn’t her night.
Harrison pinned her like a documentary predator. Every scramble just fed the machine. That kimura at the buzzer?
That was mercy.
She tapped, and wisely so — because pride don’t matter when your arm is a question mark.
🧠 Writing a Book Is Like Submitting Amanda Nunes
(Only Nobody Knows You Did It)
Here’s the brutal truth:
Finishing your book is the Julianna Peña moment. It hurts. It costs. It takes pieces of you no one will ever understand. You did something most people only talk about.
But then you do what most writers do:
You publish it quietly.
You tell five friends.
You act humble.
You shrink.
And that’s where the metaphor dies.
You should’ve grabbed the mic.
You should’ve looked into the eyes of a crowd that doesn’t give a fuck — and said:
“I want Amanda Nunes.”
Because that’s what marketing is.
That’s the reel you made when your voice cracked.
That’s the email you sent to that podcaster with 100k subs.
That’s the cringe book trailer you forced out of your comfort zone.
That’s you saying: I believe in this enough to be hated.
Kayla Harrison didn’t just win.
She announced herself.
Most writers never get that far.
They win quietly — and then sit in the back row like they lost.
💀 Final Round
The next time someone groans during a women’s fight — remember UFC 316.
The GOAT was watching.
The new champ didn’t ask permission.
And the crowd had no choice but to look up from their phones and say:
“Wait… who the fuck is this?”
If you’ve ever made something that scared you — if you’ve burned yourself down just to build one weird, beautiful story...
Then don’t die quiet.
Call your Amanda Nunes out.
Take the mic.
Start the fight.
✍️ Josh
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