Kayla Harrison has signed on for a lightweight tournament as part of the PFL’s 2019 season, with the remainder of the field to be named later.
In news that isn’t exactly surprising, the Professional Fighters League will host a women’s lightweight tournament as part of its 2019 season. And at the forefront of that lightweight tournament will be none other than Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison. The PFL confirmed the news, following an initial report by ESPN on Wednesday. Still in the midst of their first full season, the PFL has seen Harrison (competing as a “special attraction” rather than in the tournament format) become one of their breakout stars.
Harrison (2-0) won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics in Judo, and served as a training partner for another Judo gold medalist, Ronda Rousey. Making the jump to MMA, she signed on with the World Series of Fighting, and stuck with the promotion as it became the PFL. Working as an on-air personality while she trained for her debut, Harrison took to the cage for the first time this year, defeating Brittney Elkin at PFL 2 via arm-bar. The submission took just over three minutes to pull off. In her sophomore outing at PFL 6, Harrison defeated Jozette Cotton in a third round TKO.
A PFL representative was unable to confirm to Cageside Press whether Elkin or Cotton would be part of the lightweight tournament. However, with Harrison in the mix, the promotion will certainly gain some eyeballs.
