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Kayla Harrison has staked her claim to being called possibly the greatest female combat sports athlete of all time.
Kayla Harrison Wins UFC Title In Dominant Fashion
Walking into the most important bout of her mixed martial arts career at UFC 316, Kayla Harrison locked horns with two-time promotional bantamweight queen Julianna Peña as she contended for UFC gold for the first time. Arriving in the organization more than a year ago at UFC 300, the Floridian wowed fight fans with a remarkable submission victory over another previous champion in Holly Holm. She then followed up her monumental debut with another incredible win over Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307.
Although she hadn’t been as active as her challenger, 135-lb apex Peña had shared the Octagon with a bevvy of female mixed martial legends across her tenure in the UFC. Becoming the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter in 2013, “The Venezuelan Vixen” has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Cat Zingano, Valentina Shevchenko, Germaine de Randamie and Amanda Nunes twice. She notably captured the bantamweight strap for the first time by submitting Nunes in 2021 before dropping it to the Brazilian in the rematch.
While she looked noticeably drained at weigh-ins the previous days, Harrison appeared to be at the top of her game physically, looking to be the clearly bigger and stronger competitor in comparison to Peña. Pushing the pace early, the previous PFL gold standard began stalking the champion in round one, using volume striking to get Peña against the cage before taking her down and controlling her. This game plan from Harrison continued into the second, with the Olympian wearing the incumbent down with her grappling before securing the kimura with a mere ten seconds left in the round.
Harrison on course for thrilling clash with UFC icon in next contest
Becoming UFC champion in over a year, Kayla Harrison added a gigantic addition to her already impressive trophy case after securing two Olympic gold medals and two PFL world titles. With the victory, she ties former foe Holm’s record of minimum number of bouts to become the promotion’s 135-lb queen with three. She didn’t have long to bask in the glory of her triumph before her next adversary was brought into the cage, the consensus best women’s mixed martial arts ever, Amanda Nunes.
Currently riding a two-fight win streak, Nunes hasn’t competed since defending her bantamweight strap at UFC 289 in 2023 in a masterclass performance against Irene Aldana. She would then vacate both her 135-lb and 145-lb belts immediately after in her post-fight interview, seemingly walking off into the sunset after a once-in-a-lifetime career. However, “The Lioness” started to make waves within the sport after dropping multiple hints that she was going to make a return, with her stating she was prepared to face the winner between Harrison and Peña (video courtesy of ESPN).
Having once been teammates at American Top Team before Nunes left to form her own team in 2022, Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison have spent a considerable amount of time in the training room together over the years. This makes their inevitable clash all the more interesting, as both women may just know each other’s strengths and weaknesses inside and out.
