After initially showing zero interest in signing Kayla Harrison, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White has seemingly had a change of heart. According to comments he made to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, the outspoken promoter revealed that the promotion has had talks with Harrison and her team about joining the ranks.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist became a free agent after winning her second straight $1 million Professional Fighters League (PFL) tournament this past October, submitting Taylor Guardado at PFL 10 in the second round. It was her tenth finish so far, improving her record to 12-0, 11 of those wins coming under the PFL banner.
Harrison had previously gone on record saying that she wouldn’t mind inking another deal to remain with PFL as long as the promotion offered her life-changing money. More recently, here manager Ali Abdelaziz confirmed that the judoka was talking with several companies, including WWE.
Of course, the two biggest fights for Harrison at the moment are against current UFC champ-champ Amanda Nunes and Bellator Featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg. Scott Coker and Co. have shown interest in signing the star grappler but now that UFC is in the mix he will have his work cut out for him trying to lure her in.
For Harrison, coming to a decision — financial numbers aside — will be rather difficult. While beating Nunes — whom she trains with at American Top Team (ATT) — would be the biggest feather in her cap, there isn’t much competition waiting for her at 145 pounds after that.
That’s because the promotion hasn’t bothered to bulk up that weight class over the years, and with Felicia Spencer’s recent retirement the division got that much more shallow. In Bellator, however, the 145-pound weight class is alive and well — at least well enough to have a Top 10.
Decisions, decisions…