One of the more interesting and important free agent periods for an elite MMA fighter took an interesting turn on Tuesday. Two-time PFL women's lightweight champion Kayla Harrison told ESPN she is "considering" a future move down to the 135-pound division.
Harrison (12-0), a two-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist in judo, has fought 11 times as a professional at 155 pounds and cut down to 145 pounds just once under the Invicta FC banner in a one-off 2020 victory while PFL was idle due to the pandemic. As an Olympian, Harrison previously competed at 78 kilograms, which is equivalent to 172 pounds.
The news came just days after reports from Ariel Helwani indicated talks between Harrison and the PFL, where she has competed since 2018, "hit a snag in the 11th hour," leaving Harrison open, once again, to all potential sutiors. Yet the fact that UFC has never promoted a 155-pound women's division -- and the reality that its 145-pound division remains on life support -- shows pretty clearly the motivation behind the decision.
Harrison told ESPN she is hiring a chef and is interested in adding a nutritionist to determine whether such a dramatic weight cut is realistic and can be done in a healthy manner. The native of Middletown, Ohio, who trains out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, is also factoring in the recent changes to her personal life into her decision on free agency after Harrison became a first-time parent through the legal adoption of her niece and nephew.
The physical gamble Harrison is considering undertaking is an interesting one. Harrison has been nothing short of dominant as a professional in sweeping a pair of PFL tournaments at 155 pounds, yet hasn't faced anything close to a world-class level of competition. At 31 and the peak of her physical prime, Harrison knows her window to maximize her potential is now and has seemed to value the potential critical acclaim of being called the best in the world -- which can only happen by conquering the UFC -- just as much as the financial realities of free agency.
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Historically, however, removing muscle to cut down in weight has been a risky proposition in combat sports because it often leaves fighters so energy depleted. And Harrison has gone on record saying a full-time cut down to even 145 pounds should she re-sign with PFL would be impossible due to how close the fights are in time each calendar year given the promotion's unique regular season and playoff format.
Now, Harrison is willing to risk it all to bypass 145 pounds altogether and figure out if squeezing herself down to bantamweight is a possibility?
From the standpoint of potential rewards, both in terms of money and critical acclaim, it's clear moving down to 135 pounds would open up a new world of options for Harrison to fulfill her bright potential. The UFC has never fully committed to its women's featherweight division and has yet to even roll out a ranking of top 10 fighters at 145 pounds since the division's creation in late 2016.
In theory, the UFC's featherweight division was only created to house current Bellator MMA champion and pioneering legend Cris Cyborg, whose own attempt at shedding muscle in a healthy manner to cut down to bantamweight (in hopes of a superfight against Ronda Rousey that never materialized) leveled out at 140 pounds where Cyborg twice fought at a catchweight upon signing with UFC in 2016.
Cyborg went on to win a vacant UFC title at 145 pounds after inaugural champion Germaine de Randamie was stripped for refusing to fight her. But even with the history and fanfare that came with Amanda Nunes knocking Cyborg out in 2018 to become a two-division champion, featherweight has largely been the home for blown-up bantamweights looking for a shorter path to a title shot and less of a collection of the best fighters in the world at this weight class.
Should Harrison be able to cut down to bantamweight in a healthy manner, the potential for big fights is endless. Not only would she be an interesting opponent for the winner of a bantamweight title rematch between Nunes and new champion Julianna Pena, which is expected to take place later this year following completion of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, it leaves open the potential of a superfight against current flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, who previously competed at 135 pounds.
Considering former 135-pound champions Holly Holm and Miesha Tate also compete in and around the division, successfully completing such a "daring to be great" move would allow Harrison the chance to, without a question of a doubt, compete for the opportunity to be called the greatest female fighter in MMA history.
But that remains a big "if" physically and also brings to light an idea suggested by this writer over the past year that could be the perfect compromise between Harrison's goal of rewriting the history books and the UFC's want to make as many big fights as possible: the creation of a women's heavyweight division.
It sounds crazy, right? Yet all one has to do is look at the way UFC currently promotes its own male heavyweight division as a current model, utilizing the largest gap in weight between any two divisions from 206 pounds to the current limit of 265 pounds. What if UFC adapted the same strategy around promoting a women's heavyweight division between 136 and 155 pounds, which would solve the glaring lack of depth across all three divisions?
Given how often UFC president Dana White is asked when and if the promotion plans on folding its own women's featherweight division due to a lack of viable title challengers, this seems like a decision that could bring nothing but excitement to matchmaking in the short term. It might also allow Harrison a chance to compete at her physical best without compromising herself to fit a square peg in the round hole of 135 pounds.
Harrison went on to tell MMA Junkie late Tuesday that the quotes she gave ESPN may not have been as serious as the headlines indicated.
"I was kind of talking s---, being goofy," Harrison said. "My goal is obviously not to fight at 135 pounds. … I have to watch what I say from now on. Obviously, I want to fight the best in the world. Julianna is now considered a top dog, but I also heard that she would fight me at 145 for the right amount of money, so I probably won't have to fight 135.
"I just want to challenge myself and continue to grow as a fighter, continue to grow as a human being, and continue to get better. Do I want to fight at 135? F--- no. No, of course not."
Either way, the creation of a women's heavyweight division still seems like the smartest play for UFC, which has shown precedent in the past that star power dictates such a move as this. Rousey was the sole reason women were ever allowed to compete in UFC while Cyborg was the reason for the creation of a 145-pound division. Nunes responsible for keeping it alive.
Given her pedigree and success up to this point, it would appear as if Harrison checks all of those same boxes.
Fighter pay won't go away
It's the hottest topic in MMA at the moment given Francis Ngannou's own impending free agency at the end of this year, but it seems some immediate fallout to the UFC heavyweight champion's very public battle with UFC brass may have taken place.
Lost in the buildup to last weekend's UFC 271 card, which featured Israel Adesanya's victory over Robert Whittaker in their rematch, was the announcement of the middleweight champion's new deal, which his management agency, Paradigm Sports, claimed in its press release made Adesanya "one of the top paid athletes in the history of mixed martial arts."
Although neither UFC nor Adesanya revealed publicly the terms of the deal, including its multi-fight length or the financials, "The Last Stylebender" said during UFC 271 media day that his "f---ing big deal" could leave him as the second-highest paid UFC fighter behind former two-division champion Conor McGregor.
The key quote from Adesanya surrounded how much he believes his deal is the start of real change in the relationship between UFC and its athletes, saying, "I look forward to this effect trickling down to the rest of the fighters."
Even though most UFC stars have been reluctant to publicly comment on Ngannou's battle, the timing of the Adesanya news seems to indicate a tiny bit of leverage could be coming back their way thanks to "The Predator."
Tweet of the week
Former lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler had a string of interesting social media takes in the aftermath of Adesanya's close (and increasingly disputed) unanimous decision win over Whittaker at UFC 271.
Trust me, I love Izzy. But we have gotten to a point where a dominant champ just needs to stand there, throw a few shots per round and he will not lose unless he gets caught&he will always get the nod. Izzy got paid on this last contract...go FIGHT, don’t you dare spar. #UFC271
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) February 13, 2022
