AP Photo/Greg Payan, File
The Professional Fighters League is the “strong front-runner” to sign mixed martial artist and two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka Kayla Harrison, per MMA journalist Ariel Helwani.
“Not a done deal just yet, but they are definitely the strongest atop the leaderboard at the moment,” Helwani wrote in his “Two-Cent Tuesdays” article on Substack.
Harrison, who has competed in the last four PFL seasons, most recently defeated Taylor Guardado via second-round submission to win the company’s Women’s Lightweight Tournament last October.
The PFL news comes amid talk that numerous organizations, including the WWE and UFC, were interested in signing the 31-year-old free agent.
“Everybody trying to sign Kayla. Even Walmart try to sign Kayla. The WWE been calling too, but we’re interested in real fighting,” manager Ali Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports.
“I think she’s happy with PFL,” Abdelaziz added. “But listen, I got great relationships with UFC, Bellator, but I have to show a little loyalty to PFL.”
Harrison made her PFL debut in 2018. She has a lifetime 12-0 professional MMA record (11-0 PFL, 1-0 Invictus). Ten of her wins have come by knockout or submission.
Prior to her MMA career, Harrison was a dominant judoka who retired from the sport with a 45-7 record. She won gold medals in the 78-kilogram division at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Her resume also includes a gold medal at the 2010 World Championships and two more at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.