Though her sophomore look within the UFC didn’t produce an abundance of highlights for her all-time reel, coach Mike Brown is assured Kayla Harrison is on the cusp of her newest piece of gold.
The 2-time Olympic gold medalist in judo has spent the majority of her profession principally dominating the PFL, the place she gained two $1 million 155-pound titles. She moved to the UFC earlier this 12 months and debuted with a second-round end of former girls’s bantamweight champ Holly Holm.
Not solely did Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) take out a former titleholder proper out of the gate, however she made a profitable debut at 135 kilos, as properly – a full 20 kilos down from the place she spent most of her time within the PFL. At UFC 307, she confronted some second-round adversity towards Ketlen Vieira (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), however finally gained a unanimous resolution.
Former WEC champ Brown, who now’s her head coach at American Prime Workforce, thinks Harrison’s arrival within the UFC will convey some luster again to the division that had Ronda Rousey as its founding champion earlier than Holm, Miesha Tate, Amanda Nunes, Julianna Peña and Raquel Pennington.
“Kayla actually is on one other degree than these different women, and I believe that she’s bringing again pleasure to that division,” Brown advised MMA Junkie. “I believe that division actually wants it. The extent of expertise just isn’t tremendous deep there.
“She is an outlier. She’s charismatic and she or he is, I believe, head and shoulders above the remainder of the females and I believe with the way in which she talks and the way in which she seems to be and what she’s able to, she brings lots of pleasure. I believe (the division) wants it, and I believe she’s going to do huge issues.”
Harrison appeared to place herself as the subsequent challenger for the title only a few fights earlier than then-former champ Peña (13-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) beat Pennington (16-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) by cut up resolution to win again the belt at UFC 307 earlier this month.
However after Peña’s win, she didn’t acknowledge Harrison’s win over Vieira – and as an alternative stated she hopes Nunes comes out of retirement to battle in a trilogy matchup. Peña upset Nunes to win the title, however misplaced it to her in a rematch. Nunes then retired and vacated each the ladies’s bantamweight and featherweight belts.
Brown, like Harrison, thought Peña ignoring her will solely go thus far.
“We simply laughed. We virtually anticipated it,” Brown stated. “I don’t assume actually the (bantamweight) women need any piece of Kayla. I believe she’s making her declare, and I believe she’s the way forward for the division. It’s going to occur ultimately. You may’t run from it without end. You may as properly face the music.”
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