107kg MMA phenom's stunning attack on Olympic gold medallist
Gabi Garcia has sparked an angry war of words between a number of fellow MMA fighters after calling out Olympic gold medallist Kayla Harrison.
Heavyweight fighter Garcia, who weighs in at 107kg, has gone viral in recent years following a number of brutal victories over mismatched opponents.
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And her latest target is Harrison, a lightweight fighter some 40kg her junior.
“I am waiting 3 years for @KaylaH tell me how much she wants me to cut weight to accept the fight! Just excuses and joke here!” Garcia, nicknamed the ‘She Hulk’ wrote on social media.
Garcia stands at 188cm and has won six out of seven professional bouts, with one ending in a no-contest after an accidental eye poke.
In 2016 she beat 54-year-old wrestler Yumiko Hotta in just 41 seconds, sparking condemnation around the fighting world.
“Lol we talking real fighting now not some staged fight,” Harrison responded in reference to Garcia’s farcical fights.
“How about beat someone that isn’t picked from the old folks home and has a real heartbeat and then you can put my name in your mouth.
“Until then watch me win another mil.”
To which Garcia fired back: “I made more money than you winning without a sweat but now you are disrespecting the other girls I fought!
“Do you want to put your single million and I will put a million also to make this fight? Or will you make an excuse”
“U are a joke!”
@KaylaH I made more money than you winning without a sweat but now you are disrespecting the other girls I fought!
do you want to put your single million and I will put a million also to make this fight? or will you make an excuse
u are a joke! pfl made this gp easy for you— Gabi Garcia 🥇 (@gabijiu) January 26, 2021
Harrison gets support from fellow MMA stars
But the war of words didn’t end there, with fellow fighter Liv Parker also taking aim at Garcia.
“She (Harrison) would probably be more interested in a quality opponent,” Parker tweeted.
“If you want to talk jokes, you (Garcia) are the one fighting 50+ year old has-been wrestlers who are 1/4th your size and weight.”
However flyweight fighter Tara LaRosa defended Garcia, angering Parker even further.
“Do you really think she (Garcia) can be taken seriously given her track record?” she added.
“I also know how hard the women before me, yourself included, have fought to pave the way for women in the sport & her antics just feed the critics even more. Not who I want repping me as a female fighter.
“Just my opinion though … just hard to respect how she has carried herself.”
She would probably be more interested in a quality opponent.
If you want to talk jokes, you are the one fighting 50+ year old has-been wrestlers who are 1/4th your size and weight.— Liv Parker (@Liv_4_MMA) January 26, 2021
I’ve been out for 5 years, I don’t know what track record you’re talking about. Gabi’s always been nice to me, and I don’t like seeing any of us getting bagged on, like what happened to me back in the day... for years.
She’s a big chic, who TF is she gonna fight?— Tara LaRosa (@TaraLaRosa) January 26, 2021
Harrison, who won gold in judo at the Rio Olympics in 2016, has since turned her career to MMA and won the Professional Fighters League lightweight championship in 2019.
She is 8-0 in professional MMA, destroying Courtney King in November in her Invicta debut.
King was left a bloody mess courtesy of a gushing wound on her face, leaving fight fans and commentators stunned.
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