If Kayla Harrison can’t find any women willing to fight her, maybe she should just meet men inside the Octagon.
That was the sentiment expressed by Harrison’s manager and Dominance MMA founder Ali Abdelaziz during a recent appearance on Submission Radio.
“I think let’s make her fight some men,” Abdelaziz said. “And I believe she can win, beat all these guys I just mentioned. The UFC offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for a female fighter to accept a fight, and nobody wanted it. But they’re not going to have no choice. The UFC is going to have to strip them from the title or something. But listen, Hunter Campbell is working on this. They will get her a fight. But nobody wants to fight her” (h/t MMA Mania).
Harrison made her promotional debut at UFC 300 in April, earning a second-round submission victory over former bantamweight world champion Holly Holm. The victory thrust the two-time Olympic gold medalist into the No. 4 spot in the 135-pound rankings, putting her in position to challenge for the division’s top prize after just one fight.
Unfortunately, it seems like neither current champ Racquel Pennington nor top-ranked contender Julianna Pena are interested in scrapping with her.
Abdelaziz calls for kayla harrison to fight Aljamain Sterling and/or Merab Dvalishvili
Adding to his comments, Abdelaziz suggested that if Harrison has to take to fighting men just to get booked, she should immediately aim for the top, squaring off with the likes of former ex-titleholder Aljamain Sterling or Merab Dvalishvili.
“Merab (Dvalishvili) or Aljamain Sterling,” Abdelaziz added. “Yeah. I think it’s a very competitive fight. It’s not fair. It’s not, honestly, because if none of these girls want to fight her, let’s fight somebody at 135. Let’s fight some, you know, Rob Font. But I think her wrestling is too good for Rob Font.
“It’s not even a fair fight. Or maybe this Brazilian guy. What’s his name? Former champion. I think she’ll smash all these guys, honestly. Because none of these females, they’re gonna want to fight her. Especially after what she did to Holly.”