Kayla Harrison made a splash at UFC 300 in her promotional debut.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist dominated and submitted a former champion in Holly Holm, announcing her arrival in both the promotion and the bantamweight division. After winning two seasons at lightweight in the PFL, Harrison arrived in the UFC under the microscope (not to mention in the spotlight), one of the biggest free agent signings in years.
That’s the sort of attention you get as the UFC’s first ever double-gold medalist, and despite Dana White dragging the PFL of late, being a double champ there is nothing to sneeze at.
Harrison may be the most decorated Olympian to grace the octagon, however, but she’s far from the only one. Here’s a solid pack of fourteen Olympians who have fought under the UFC banner over the years.
Daniel Cormier
Olympic Result: 4th place, 2004, DNC 2008
As is well known by now, UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, Hall of Famer, and current broadcaster Daniel Cormier’s Olympic dream didn’t end the way he had hoped. After a successful collegiate wrestling career, Cormier joined the U.S. Olympic team and qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. There, the former NCAA Division I All-American with Oklahoma State University came in fourth, losing to Russian Khadzhimurat Gatsalov in the semifinal round.
Four years later, Cormier returned to the games, qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China only to have his wrestling career come to a crashing halt. While cutting weight, Cormier’s kidneys began to fail; he was taken to a local hospital, and later pulled from the games.
Stunningly, Cormier would later compete at 205lbs, several pounds less than the weight that saw his body fail him at the Beijing games. He found massive success first in Strikeforce, winning the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix as an alternate, and later the UFC, becoming a rare simultaneous double-champ.
