PFL 2021 Finalist Taylor Guardado Discusses Her Mother’s Battle with Cancer

Taylor Guardado won her way to this year’s Professional Fighters League lightweight final in spite of dealing with one of the hardest distractions imaginable.

“No Mercy” (3-1, 3-0 PFL) is set to headline the upcoming 2021 Season PFL Championships on Oct. 27, where she will take on Kayla Harrison. Guardado earned her spot in the finale by upending Helena Kolesnyk and Laura Sanchez via unanimous decision before sweating a split decision victory in her clash with Mariana Morais. While the Xtreme Couture standout didn’t make any excuse for the closer-than-planned outcome of that fight, she did admit that her mother’s battle with cancer impacted her bout and her life in general. Guardado’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery, but the tumor ended up spreading to her bladder and colon, which had to be removed. Now, she is recovering in a rehab facility.

“She’s doing a little better,” Guardado told Sherdog. “She’s had a couple of infections around the surgical sites, but she’s in a rehab facility at the moment, essentially learning how to do things with the two bags that have replaced the bladder and the colon. She’s staying positive, but she’s not home yet, so she’s a little grumpy off that, but it’s okay. I’d rather her get healthy and well and taken care of before we get to the next step of coming back home.”

Guardado also spoke about her camp in preparation for the fight and her plans to take her family on a vacation in Italy if she wins the $1 million prize.

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.