PFL PFL champ Kayla Harrison is one of the fastest-rising stars in MMA.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) announced via press release Wednesday the signings of two more world-class competitors for its women’s lightweight division. Marina Mokhnatkina and Martina Jindrova will be joining the lightweight division currently ruled by PFL champ Kayla Harrison.
Harrison is the 2019 PFL champion at 155, and it seems like she’s on her way to doing it again in 2021. The two-time Olympic gold medalist will hope to land PFL gold again later this year as well as the $1 million prize that comes along with it.
Harrison is in the final year of her current PFL contract, but she’s arguably the face of the franchise and both parties are currently negotiating terms for her return.
While Harrison has suggested in the past that she would be open to fielding offers from other promoters, she’s also said something that could help bring her back into the PFL fold, at least in part, is more top-notch competition in her weight class.
The latest PFL signings of Mokhnatkina and Jindrova will go a long way towards that. Both MMA stars are set to compete in the 2022 PFL season.
“We are very excited to bring two women of this caliber into our women’s lightweight division,” PFL President Ray Sefo said. “The goal has been to elevate our roster each year and that will be the case once again in 2022. These signings, along with others we already have in the pipeline, will show the commitment we have to building an even stronger roster for the coming season.”
So it looks like the PFL is doing everything it can to make sure things are as tough as possible for Harrison in 2022, and that’s exactly the way she wants it.
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PFL Adds Sambo Specialist and Undefeated Striker
Mokhnatkina, 33, from Russia, has an extensive background in Sambo.
In that sport, she’s a six-time world champion, two-time European champion and eight-time Russian champion. Additionally, Mokhnatkina is a veteran of MMA with seven professional bouts and an impressive 5-2 record. She has competed in both Fight Nights Global in her home country as well as Bellator MMA in the United States.
Jindrova, 30, from the Czech Republic, is a striker who has competed all around the world in both Muay Thai and kickboxing.
Jindrova is a former ISKA K-1 kickboxing champion and four-time Czech national kickboxing champion. She made her move to MMA in 2018 and has an unblemished 3-0 record as a professional MMA star.
The PFL is already home to the best women’s lightweight MMA fighters in the world. Now, Mokhnatkina and Jindrova will join the league to bolster the lineup even more.
Both additions will hope to compete for PFL gold next year, but they’ll have heavy competition.
Harrison, who finished both her opponents this season with little resistance, is one of the fastest-rising superstars in the sport.
But the division also features deadly knockout artist and UFC veteran Larissa Pacheco, who posted two devastating knockouts this season to steal from Harrison the No. 1 seed for the upcoming 2021 PFL Playoffs.
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More About 2021 PFL Season
PFL is the first and only promotion to present MMA in the sports-season format where individual fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and world championship.
The 2021 PFL season began with 60 fighters in six weight divisions. The 2021 PFL Playoffs are now set to commence with 24 fighters competing for 12 spots in the world championship event later this year.
On the line then will be PFL gold as well as six $1 million purses.
All three PFL 2021 Playoff events will be featured live in primetime on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+ in the U.S., as well as on leading broadcast and streaming outlets in 160 countries worldwide.
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Things Just Got Tougher for PFL Champ Kayla Harrison