Janai Kai Recalls Losing 20 Pounds For Kickboxing Fight Where Opponent Pulled Out

Janai Kai is known as the “Kick Demon” as she mixes kickboxing in her with wrestling skills. 

Kai has a black belt in taekwondo and is versed in kickboxing and muay thai. She has competed in Bloodsport, which is a hybrid wrestling/MMA event put on by Josh Barnett and UWFI rules contests. 

Speaking to Jeremy Lambert & Joel Pearl on In The Weeds, Kai recalled her near experience in competing in an official kickboxing contest, and why it didn’t happen. 

“It was in 2017 when I trained for my fight, a kickboxing fight, GLORY rules. I had to lose 20 pounds, which was not good for my height or anything. It was kind of unhealthy to do, but I did it. Then, my opponent pulled out of the fight the week of. I was like, ‘this is ridiculous. I can’t. I just lost 20 pounds.’ I just decided, ‘I’m going to wrestling. I’m not going to deal with this.’ I would love to do that again because I appreciated that experience. I learned a lot about myself mentally and physically, just how my body really works. I got to know myself a lot more through that process. I don’t mind doing it again, it just has to be good timing,” she said. 

Kai noted that she was open to a potential MMA bout, but conceded that she would have to work on her ground game. 

Elsewhere during the interview, Kai praised Maria Kanellis for her work with women’s wrestlers. You can find her full comments by clicking here. 

Fans can check out the full interview with Kai in the video above.