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UFC secured the combat sports signing of the year so far when the market-leading promotion added Kayla Harrison to its roster.
A two-time gold medal-winning Olympian in judo, and two-time PFL MMA champion, Harrison is one of the fight game’s most decorated fighters.
She makes her eagerly-anticipated UFC debut at the Las Vegas-based firm’s big show in its hometown April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena against Holly Holm.
Harrison made her name in MMA by competing in the women’s lightweight (155-pounds) but her match at UFC 300 is at bantamweight (135-pounds).
The UFC women’s super bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington told SiriusXM on Tuesday that the weight cut, combined with a fight-ready Holm, could spell doom for Harrison.
“A lot of athletes haven’t truly been challenged” before they arrive in the UFC, Pennington said. “And I feel like [Harrison] hasn’t truly been challenged in the PFL.
Harrison enters the UFC with a pro MMA record of 16 wins (six KOs, six submissions, and four decisions) against one loss.
Her most notable wins are against Larissa Pacheco in the PFL’s 2019 $1 million lightweight final, Genah Fabian in 2021, and Aspen Ladd at a 150-pound catchweight in 2023.
Her sole loss was to Pacheco in 2022 — a rematch in which she dropped a unanimous decision to her PFL rival at the 2022 lightweight tournament final.
“To come in and have this platform, that’s going to give her a run for her money,” Pennington said.
“She has a huge hype following but I think she’s going to be exposed a little bit.”
For Pennington, “the hardest part” of the transition from PFL to UFC, aside from the increased level of competition, “is making the weight” at 135-pounds having previously fought 20 pounds higher.
Harrington is Unfazed By The Weight Cut
Harrison told veteran combat sports reporter Kevin Iole that she has gone through a test weight cut to ensure she could not only make the cut to 135-pounds, but perform optimally at that weight.
She is therefore unconcerned at competing in an unfamiliar division, and how that may impact her body on fight night.
She said that when she performed at 155, there was not much weight to cut as she did not walk around “at 180-pounds or something.”
Harrison said: “I have walked around most of my MMA career at 165, 160.”
Regarding the test cut, she said: “Everything was measured from my heart rate to my blood pressure to my blood sugar.
“We did a test recovery. We did a test simulated fight. Everything has been dialed in and everything has been tested.”
Harrison finished: “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but the things in life worth having are usually not easy.”
Harrison Has Long Been Compared To Ronda Rousey
Because of her judo background and dominance, Harrison has long been compared to Ronda Rousey.
It is a tag she attempted to shake off early in her career as she told Business Insider in 2019 that she was actually the more accomplished judoka and Olympian than Rousey.
Now, at UFC 300, she has the chance to do something Rousey never could — beat Holm.
Holm was the first fighter to defeat Rousey when she finished her with a head kick and punches at UFC 193 in 2015.
Rousey fought once more in MMA after that bout, but lost a second time to Amanda Nunes.
Holm, meanwhile, has won five fights but lost six, and is 42 years old.
Though Harrison is the favorite to win, it remains a tricky encounter to navigate, Pennington said.
“Things get tough when you got older as an athlete,” Pennington told SiriusXM.
“But I feel like if Holly actually brings back the Holly that first came into the UFC and strikes with Kayla, it’s not going to go Kayla’s direction at all.”
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