Olympian judoka sensation and new signing Kayla Harrison is already proving her naysayers wrong. The new signing successfully weighed in for her bantamweight debut, which holds much anticipation. However, longtime American Top Team (ATT) head coach Mike Brown never doubted that for a second.
Stepping into the octagon, Harrison faces former champion Holly Holm at UFC 300. After the early weigh-ins at UFC Apex, the ceremonial weigh-ins happened at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Both she and Holm successfully scaled out at 136lbs. However, there were many concerns about her weight drop. Mike Brown, contrastingly, always thought she’d make it.
I’m more than confident she’s going to be just fine in the cage. She’ll be big and strong and I think she’ll be dominant. I expect her to win and be the best fighter in that weight class or any weight class... She has good people around her. She’s got Eric Pena helping her weight cut. He’s got a lot of experience... Mike Brown via MMAFighting
Competing at nearly 172 pounds all her life, the two-time Olympic gold medalist dropped to 155 at PFL. Kayla Harrison, Brown, and her corner settled on stiffer competition; hence, Mike Brown’s advocacy of a move to UFC was the right one. Outside of a lone loss to Larissa Pacheco, she has easily dominated other opponents. A feat that even prompts manager Ali Abdelaziz to label her as a more jacked-up version of Ronda Rousey.
However, Brown also promotes that 145 pounds would have been an optimal point for the fighter. He mentioned coach Eric Pena was cornering her move to bantamweight. Speaking to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, even Harrison had mentioned successful test cuts all through this time. Now, it remains to be seen whether she can dominate the opponent, as Brown suggests she would.
UFC 300 Pre-fight facts: All you need to know about Kayla Harrison
UFC 300’s stacked lineup boasts a two-time PFL lightweight titleholder and the $1M purse recipient Kayla Harrison, who is making her debut. Currently 16-1 MMA, she meets former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm (15-6) on the card. Harrison is competing at 135 pounds for the first time in her career.
However, the fighter has upheld much conviction and muddled through. She commends her opponent and accordingly plans ahead. Here’s what you need to know about her:
Harrison only once fought at 145. Changing from the –63 kg division to the –78 kg, she won the 2008 Junior World Championship as her division did not qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. She fought at the PFL at 155 pounds (–70 kg).
Harrison won the 2008 Junior World Championship at –78 kg. Next year, she became the first American to compete in two Junior World Championships finals. She has 14 IJF Grand Prix wins, 9 IJF Grand Slam wins, and is a two-time World Master Judoka.
She might not boast a plethora of extracurricular accomplishments, but she made a small cameo in one of the earliest seasons of the TV show Impractical Jokers. She play-pretended a grappling sequence with comedian James Stephen “Murr” Murray (@therealmurr).
Harrison also maintains a funny disposition and engages in a bet to “Power Slap” her coach if she has a first-round finish at UFC 300. She received her full UFC Fighter kit recently. Harrison has star potential, but she has to find success inside the octagon. Only time will tell if she one day holds the UFC bantamweight belt.
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