Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison re-signs with PFL over UFC, Bellator

Kayla Harrison became one of the top free agents in mixed martial arts history late last year, but she's not headed anywhere. Despite interest from the UFC and Bellator, Harrison is re-signing with the Pro Fighters League on a multi-year deal, the organization announced Tuesday.

Harrison, 31, earned gold in judo at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics before making her pro MMA debut in 2018. She has been dominant and undefeated over 12 career fights with five technical knockout wins and another five wins via submission. Harrison has twice won the PFL Women's Lightweight Tournament as well as its $1 million prize.

After her last win — a second-round armbar finish of Taylor Guardado in October — there appeared to be plenty of momentum for her to join the UFC and challenge two-division champion Amanda Nunes. But in December, Nunes lost to Julianna Peña and the prospective fight fell through.

“Let me tell you what,” White told reporters in December, via MMA Junkie. “If Amanda Nunes had won tonight, the Kayla Harrison fight would be one of the biggest fights that you would have ever seen.”

Harrison still received an offer from the UFC, but according to Marc Raimondi of ESPN, it was another organization, Bellator, that made a more serious push and forced PFL to match their offer.