After two different retirements, Gerald "Hurricane" Harris is back on a big stage, competing in Bellator.
Harris was a late addition to a card in his home state of Oklahoma against highly touted Yaroslav Amosov. Harris told Fightful.com's James Lynch that Bellator has had a difficult time finding opponents for the unbeaten Amosov, and the bout will also serve as his own farewell to the Welterweight division.
Originally a UFC Middleweight, Harris moved to the 170 pound division after his exit from the company.
"This fight is at 170, which will be my absolute last time making 170. I'm going back up to middleweight, I can't do 170 anymore. They did me a favor by putting me on this card, the card was full already. I guess this guy's been signed a while and they couldn't find anybody to fight him. I'm always game, as long as the money matches the opponent," said Harris. "170's too much for me. When they called me for the Lovato fight, I was 215. I'm 38, I'm tired of cutting weight. I can handle myself at 185."
Harris said that he wasn't even focusing on getting a title shot at middleweight, saying that he'd rather just take on big fights in the division instead. Lynch also spoke to Harris about the potential of moving to pro wrestling.
"It's been proposed a couple of times for me to do it. Cory Machado hits me up all the time like 'come to Cali and do some wrestling.' I just don't have the time right now. Matt Riddle is probably one of the most successful. I have a lot of guys I wrestled in college who made the transition. It depends on what kind of person you are. Look at the Miz, he went from the Real World to pro wrestling. I get defensive, people say it's fake. It's not about being fake. Those guys are real athletes, they put their bodies through hell. I hate it when non-athletic people put it down," said Harris. "I would try it. Those injuries, I'm a scaredy cat man."
In the full interview Gerald Harris (25-6) discusses his upcoming fight against Yaroslav Amosov (19-0) at Bellator 202 on July 13.