Julia Dorny takes home $5,000 after winning “ESPN’s The Ocho” Pillow Fight Championship

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When everything died down, when all of the matches were over and all of fans stopped asking for photos, Julia Dorny finally sat down.

She held a gold championship belt. She won the women’s division and $5,000.

Tears filled her eyes.

It had been a rocky few weeks. Just two days earlier, Dorny uprooted her entire life, moving from Germany to Florida to pursue her MMA career.

“I left everybody that I love in Germany — my family, my brothers, my dog — everything,” Dorny said, still jet-lagged. “I sold my apartment in order to live here to pursue my MMA dream. That takes a lot of guts.”

Dorny wasn’t a long-time pillow fighter. She only started pillow fighting a few weeks ago after an MMA fight was delayed.

But it meant something to her. It was validation. A reason for the struggle. A reason to move to America.

Everything did not go perfectly on Aug. 4. Part of the ring broke. A fighter hurt her shoulder. Carvalho won his first two fights, but he didn’t qualify for the championship because they had too many fighters. Participants, not just Tillman, were frustrated with the scoring system.

But The Ocho did its job. The crowd cheered. ESPN broadcast. Two fighters walked home with $5,000. And for an hour, Rock Hill and pillow fighting were at the center of the niche sports world. 

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