Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison set to make MMA debut in early 2018

It was announced this past October that two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison had signed with World Series of Fighting (WSOF) and was making an official move to MMA. Now that the dust has settled and Harrison has been able to put some pieces into the place, the Judo practitioner is scheduled to make her professional debut with Professional Fighters League (PFL), formerly WSOF, this coming February.

The news was originally reported by Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times earlier this week via Twitter, with MMA Fighting also confirming the news with Harrison’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

Harrison, 26, will follow in the footsteps of notable MMA fighters like Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann as former Olympic medalists to journey over into MMA. The Ohio native captured Olympic gold at the London games in 2012 and again in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Harrison is arguably the best female American judoka of all time and could easily step into the MMA spotlight and succeed.

Harrison will most likely compete at 145 pounds and will not partake in PFL’s new tournament style for her debut. Her opponent has yet to be named.