“Am I gonna beat Khabib? I mean I think I would beat him in a Judo match. For sure, 100 percent. I would beat Khabib.”
Could two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison be hyping herself as the next Ronda Rousey?
Well, it certainly looks that way.
In a recent interview with TMZ Sports Harrison, a world class judoka who made her transition to mixed martial arts in 2018, said she would beat undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (a sambo practitioner) in a Judo match.
“Am I gonna beat Khabib? I mean I think I would beat him in a Judo match. For sure, 100 percent. I would beat Khabib,” she said.
Ronda Rousey, a former judoka who won bronze in the 2008 Olympics, also spoke about facing several male fighters (including former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez) until she lost her bantamweight title to betting underdog Holly Holm at UFC 193. With that said, there’s no denying that Rousey left her mark in MMA as one of the greatest UFC champions of all time.
As for Harrison, she has a long way to go before she reaches Ronda Rousey levels of notoriety but the 28-year-old has made a strong first impression, finishing all three of her bouts under the PFL banner by way of TKO or submission.
Harrison is expected to face Larissa Pacheco in the opening round of PFL’s million dollar eight-woman lightweight tournament, which kicks off tomorrow night, May 9 in New York.