Kayla Harrison has responded to Dana White stating she is not ready for the UFC.
Kayla Harrison is ready to be the UFC’s next bankable star, but wants to be compensated fairly in doing so.
Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, extended her unbeaten MMA record to 9-0 last weekend with a first-round TKO against Mariana Morais at PFL 3. Despite her one-sided win, UFC president Dana White questioned whether Harrison is ready for the higher calibre of fighters in the UFC.
Talking recently with ESPN, Harrison responded to White’s comments.
“I think that if Dana is ready to pay me a lot of money, I’ll make him a lot of money,” Harrison said (h/t MMA Fighting). “I have stated many times, I’m ready to face the best in the world.”
Harrison has competed at lightweight since making her MMA debut in 2018. The UFC does not have a women’s 155-pound division and talks have also circulated that the women’s featherweight division could soon be removed from the promotion.
“My job is to take care of Kayla Harrison, my job is to go down as the greatest of all time,” Harrison said. “That is my goal for myself. I begged, I begged the PFL to sign (Cris) Cyborg when she was a free agent. I begged them. I wanted all these girls who are top fighters, who are free agents to be in the PFL. I’m not in control of that. It’s the PFL’s job to bring in top competition. If they cannot bring in top competition, I do not know what’s gonna happen but you know my goal so I’m pretty sure everyone can figure it out.
“I mean, are any top 10 fighters in the PFL right now for me?”
Harrison won the 2019 PFL lightweight season and is a big favorite to win this year’s season as well.