Professional Fighters League’s biggest star will get to fight
before year’s end after all.
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Two-time lightweight champion Kayla
Harrison will return to action against Julia Budd in
a 145-pound showcase bout at the
2023 PFL Championships on Nov. 24. The pairing was announced on
Wednesday. The PFL Championship takes place at The Anthem in
Washington, D.C., and airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+. The card will
feature $1 million championship bouts in six different weight
classes. A price point for the pay-per-view was not revealed.
Harrison was originally slated to face Budd at a PFL regular season
event in July 2022 before her opponent pulled out of the contest
due to an injury. A two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo,
Harrison owns a 15-1 mark in MMA since making her professional
debut in 2018. The American Top Team representative suffered her
lone defeat at the 2022 PFL Championships, dropping a five-round
verdict to Larissa
Pacheco in one of last year’s biggest upsets.
Budd, a former Bellator featherweight queen, has struggled since
signing with the PFL. “The Jewel” ended a three-bout skid in her
last outing, when she outpointed Martina
Jindrova at PFL 5 on June 16. Her resume includes victories
over the likes of Arlene
Blencowe (twice), Marloes
Coenen and Germaine
de Randamie.