Kayla Harrison feared her neck surgery could end her career. She's still fighting for her UFC title

NEW YORK (AP) — Kayla Harrison rubbed her hands down her shoulders as she described the lightning bolts of pain — so random and severe that they would shoot through her arms and jolt her awake in agony.She detailed the numbness in her fingers. The pain pills. The daily suffering from five herniated disks in her neck that nearly knocked her out from fighting again.The dark places her broken-down body took her left Harrison questioning whether she was still worthy of holding the UFC’s 135-pound championship.She was a two-time Olympic judo gold medal champion immobilized in a neck brace for eight weeks and couldn’t lift more than 20 pounds.“I did not feel good in my body,” Harrison said.Despite the anguish of injuries accumulated throughout her decorated mixed martial arts career, Harrison could still see the light. She had a reason to keep rehabbing: not only to make it to the biggest fight of her career, but to compete in a matchup that stands as one of the biggest women’s fights in UFC