UFC 300 is rapidly approaching and fans are slowly starting to feel the hype that the historic event brings with it. With a stacked card full of former champs and familiar faces, it will be a great watch no doubt. Among the stacked card is also a newcomer, former PFL champ Kayla Harrison.
Since the start of the year, fans have seen UFC President Dana White take to his socials to announce a few new UFC 300 fights. Whilst the reactions have been mostly positive, the WMMA fights, in particular, have been heavily scrutinized. As such the announcements of Zhang Weili vs Yan Xionan or Jessica Andrade vs Marina Rodriguez were frowned upon by the fans.
Breaking News: UFC has signed Kayla Harrison!#UFC300 Holly Holm vs Kayla Harrison pic.twitter.com/jQeLItwQmO
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 24, 2024
However, the same cannot be said for Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison. For the most part, the fans were rather surprised to see such a famed WMMA fighter finally make her way into the UFC. Moreover, a legacy fight against Holly Holm is exactly the kind of fight that UFC 300 needed. Thus, the fight became one that the fans were seriously looking forward to.
Cris Cyborg feels that Kayla Harrison will struggle at her new weight class
Coming into the fight, a lot has been made of Kayla Harrison and her new weight class. When factoring in why Kayla was not in the UFC sooner, it mainly boils down to the fact that the promotion does not have a women’s featherweight division. With that said Harrison has mainly competed at lightweight throughout the majority of her career, with one fight at 145 lbs.
Thus, concerns have naturally been raised as to how Kayla, who walks around at more than 160 lbs will transition into a bantamweight (135 lbs). At the same time, the only hurdle in the way is not just about losing the weight but also maintaining her speed at strength at a lower weight.
According to former UFC and now Bellator champ Cris Cyborg, this will certainly be a big issue for Harrison.
I think Holly Holm’s hand speed and foot speed are going to be too much at the new weight.
Kayla spent a lot of camp worried about taking muscle off when the problem is going to be speed.
What did she do to increase her speed during camp? https://t.co/prTBkpDUTT
— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) March 31, 2024
“I think Holly Holm’s hand speed and foot speed are going to be too much at the new weight.”
“Kayla spent a lot of camp worried about taking muscle off when the problem is going to be speed.”
“What did she do to increase her speed during camp?”
Notably, it must be added that Cyborg has had her own rivalry with Harrison. Despite a fight between the two being heavily touted, it failed to transpire following Kayla’s departure from the PFL. Previously, there were also reports of Cyborg reportedly helping Holly Holm train for the fight as well.
Kayla Harrison career record and UFC debut
With that said, let’s take a deeper dive into the career of Kayla Harrison and the lead-up to her UFC debut. Previously, the 33-year-old started off her mixed martial arts journey as a Judoka. In the past, Harrison competed in the 78 kg (172 lb) weight category, winning the 2010 World Judo Championships. Thereafter, she followed it up with gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and the same at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games.
Thereafter, in 2018 Kayla finally made the switch over to professional MMA when she signed with the PFL. Fighting in the lightweight division, Harrison laid claim to the 2019 Women’s Lightweight Championship. Following a break in the PFL season due to COVID-19, Kayla would repeat the feat in 2021 as well. However, she would be unable to achieve the same a third time, owing to a shock decision loss to Larissa Pacheco in 2022.
Thereafter, Harrison beat former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd in a 150 lbs catchweight bout, before signing on with the UFC. Now, she is set to make the move down to 135 lbs to face former champ Holly Holm. According to Harrison, she is intent on becoming the best combat sports athlete of all time, and a win against Holm would certainly set her on her way.
