Kayla Harrison (top) lands strikes on Moriel Charneski (bottom) during a fight in 2018.
Kayla Harrison Cannot Wait For The PFL to Get Her The Fights She Needs
Kayla Harrison (7-0) is relatively new to MMA and with competition being a big part of her life, sitting out the 2020 season due to the pandemic like everyone has to, does not sit well with her. It doesn’t sit well with a lot of people but history has told us that this pandemic will pass with time. However, time is an asset that professional fighters like Harrison value greatly, and sitting out a season is not a good use of her time.
“I can’t not fight,” Harrison recently told ESPN when asked about how she felt about the Professional Fighters League (PFL) postponing the entire 2020 season. The season format of the PFL usually began late May, or early June in the past but with lifting restrictions dependant on how the country and the rest of world eases back to normal, the PFL thought it best to postpone the entire season.
“Listen, the one thing you can’t buy in life is time, the one thing I can’t ever get back is time,” Harrison said and that she, “can’t afford to take 15 months off while I’m in the prime of my career, without having a fight.” Harrison won the PFL 2019 Women’s Lightweight Title last year and has become a brand ambassador for the PFL and its women’s lightweight division. She has grown with the PFL and their format so stopping now could hurt her evolution has a competitive professional fighter.
“The one thing I can’t ever get back is time.” – Kayla Harrison
Harrison an Olympic gold medalist said she does not fight for money, rather she competes for “the glory, the legacy and the fact that I want to be best in the world.” She loves and supports what the PFL has been doing but if other fights are happening in other organizations this year, she sees no reason why she should not be fighting. She said that PFL CEO Peter Murray would try to work something out with her, but that, like everything else seems dependant on time and how things improve.
The PFL is the only promotion that has the weight class and format for Harrison to compete in and while she said in the past she would rather stay at 155 pounds, both the UFC and Bellator only go as high as 145 pounds. Harrison would rather not have to explore other options if the PFL can somehow do something this year, she said, “Hopefully, they [PFL] offer me some fights, because that’s what I need.”
