Kayla
Harrison’s featherweight debut in Invicta FC went much like the
majority of her 155-pound appearances in the Professional Fighters
League.
That is, the two-time Olympic gold medalist was dominant. Harrison
rolled past Courtney
King in the Invicta FC 43 headliner, winning via technical
knockout 4:48 into Round 2 to run her professional mark to 8-0.
Perhaps more importantly, Harrison was able to make weight without
issue — though it wasn’t an enjoyable process.
“I got to fight week about 153 pounds and had to quarantine the
whole time,” Harrison recently told
ESPN. “I brought plastics and sat in an Epsom salt bath for the
first time ever. It was terrible. But I got down to 146 pounds the
night before and ate and drank to help me sleep. I woke up the next
morning and only needed 15 more minutes in the bath to be on
weight.
“Everybody knows I don’t believe in weight cutting. I don’t believe
it’s super healthy. But I also understand I’m in the business of
Kayla Harrison, and there are going to be more opportunities for me
to fight at 145 pounds. There aren’t a lot of fights for me at 155,
so this is probably going to be in my future.”
Harrison, who is still under contract with PFL through its 2021
season, received permission from the organization to fight under
the Invicta FC banner. Harrison hopes to fight for Invicta again
before the next PFL campaign kicks off in April.
As Harrison admitted, there are more lucrative fights at 145 pounds
than at lightweight — including a potential matchup with
two-division UFC champion Amanda
Nunes. Both Harrison and Nunes train at American Top Team in
Florida.
“I didn’t suffer making the weight as bad as I or probably others
thought I would,” Harrison said. “I always knew I could make 145, I
just didn’t want to do it. Realistically, there will be more fights
for me at this weight. There’s that part of me that wants to fight
the best, and Amanda is the greatest of all time. So, yes, making
weight last week is a step towards that.
“But there is another piece that has realized through competition,
if it’s meant to be, it will happen. For my own personal reasons, I
would love to fight Amanda someday and test my skills against her.
I’m not ready for that yet, but I know that I will be ready
someday, and hopefully she’ll still be fighting by then and we’ll
do it with respect and integrity.”