11. Holly Holm vs Kayla Harrison
Holly Holm once shocked the world of MMA and became a fan-favorite by knocking out Ronda Rousey with the head kick heard round the globe. She never truly lived up to her star potential as she got choked out in her first title defense, but still had an impressive body of work in the years following her lone title win, only losing to champions like Germaine de Randamie and all-time greats like Amanda Nunes, Valentina Shevchenko, and Cris Cyborg until she was well past her prime. She even holds a win over current champion Raquel Pennington. Her style did change as she aged though, becoming less exciting in striking and relying more on cage clinching and leveraging her athleticism in the wrestling department. Still, fans will always remember her fondly and she presents a tough style for Kayla Harrison given her athleticism, takedown defense, and prodigious range management abilities.
Harrison built up her resume as an undefeated champion in the PFL before finally losing that ‘0’ in 2022 to former UFC fighter Larissa Pacheco, a talented woman who she had already beaten twice. That somewhat diminishes the story of this fight, but her signing with the UFC still created waves and if she can get past Holly she is a shoe-in for the next title shot in a division with a severe dearth of contenders. The story is augmented by her judo background. Kayla won two Olympic gold medals, succeeding where her Team USA teammate Ronda Rousey failed, making her the most accomplished Olympian to ever step foot in the octagon. Holly obviously had the perfect toolset and gameplan to stifle an elite judoka once upon a time, but perhaps Harrison can again succeed where Ronda failed.
Kayla is, after all, a more well-rounded fighter than Rousey. She may not be a great striker but has made strides in that realm and also possesses a wider array of takedowns, not just the judo throws that Ronda had. Ronda relied on getting to the clinch, which Holly denied, but Kayla can land a traditional single or double leg, especially if she gets Holm’s back against the cage. Also, Holly is obviously older and Kayla is a much more dominant athlete than Ronda ever was, she even appears larger and physically stronger than Holm herself.
Though this fight has potential to be quite boring because neither athlete possesses a necessarily exciting style, it is the most relevant contender fight in the division at present and the story surrounding it is compelling. Holly had a fairly exciting striking bout against a wrestler recently in Yana Santos, and Kayla can do interesting things with her top game. She may not be the armbar wizard that Ronda was, but she has a wide submission arsenal and her third fight against Pacheco became genuinely exciting as Larissa’s jiu-jitsu created fun grappling exchanges that Kayla did not always come out on top of. Harrison will never reach the stardom that Ronda did in MMA, but perhaps she can claim her old judo training partner’s old belt if she can get through ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ followed by champion Rocky Pennington.
Fight Rating: 6/10
