An Olympic medalist in judo winning her mixed martial arts (MMA) debut by way of armbar? I swear I’ve seen that somewhere before.
Kayla Harrison, who took gold at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games, made her cage fighting debut last night (June 21, 2018) as part of the second Professional Fighters League (PFL) event, which took place inside Chicago Theatre and aired on NBCSN.
The result was a submission win over lightweight bruiser Brittney Elkin.
“That’s probably the most alive I’ve felt since 2016,” Harrison told MMA Junkie. “I can’t wait to get back in there and do it again. My goal from the beginning, I said I want to be the best in the world at this. And the best woman in the world is at 145, so there’s where I’ve got to go.”
Not surprisingly, comparisons to Ronda Rousey — who eventually dropped from featherweight to bantamweight — will follow Harrison until she blazes her own trail.
She’s certainly off to a promising start.
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