WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kayla Harrison successfully rebounded from the first loss of her professional MMA career, and once again has her sights set on Cris Cyborg.
A year ago, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion Harrison (16-1) came up short in a trilogy bout against Larissa Pacheco for the 2022 PFL women’s lightweight championship. She returned to the cage for the first time since that moment at 2023 PFL Championship to face Aspen Ladd (11-5), and largely dominated the contest from beginning to end.
With the sting of her first career setback firmly behind her, Harrison called out “bad b*tch” Cris Cyborg during her in-cage post-fight interview, without specifically mentioning her by name. Cyborg, who purchased the domain “JudoKayla.com” to hype up their potential fight, responded by calling Harrison “basic” and posted a video reaction on X, essentially dismissing the call out.
“First of all, I’m blocked on everything, but someone sends me what she Tweets about me. It’s just childish,” Harrison told MMA Junkie. “Again, I have nothing bad to say about Cris. The emotions get the best of you inside the cage and I’m hyped up, I’m excited. I’m ready for big fights. I’ve been patient, kept my head down, worked hard. So whoever’s next, I think is going to be one of the best.”
Harrison is aware that the PFL may be pursuing a promotional champion vs. champion fight between Bellator’s Cyborg and PFL’s Larissa Pacheco. She admits that if Pacheco wins, that would take “the wind out of her sails” because she would potentially have to fight Pacheco for the fourth time.
Cyborg and Harrison were building interest in a potential fight during Harrison’s last free agency period, which resulted in a resigning with the PFL. Harrison is approaching the end of her current contract, but will likely remain under the PFL banner. Now that PFL purchased Bellator, the two parties are under the same promotion, which should make for an easier path to a fight.
“The only thing stopping it is not on this side of the table,” Harrison said. “PFL went and acquired Bellator. Now, there’s really nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. We’ll see what happens.”
If the fight does come together, Harrison is confident about how things will play out.
“I think it would be a great fight,” Harrison said. “She’s one of the best to ever compete in this sport for a reason. She’s a top dog, she’s a grinder, she’s tenacious, she goes out there and puts it on girls. I aspire to be like that as well. I go out there and try to be dominant and try to implement my gameplan to the best of my ability.
“So, I think it would be a great fight, and I think that I will beat the sh*t out of her.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL Championship.
