Professional Fighters League lightweight champion Kayla
Harrison will test the waters at 145 pounds against Courtney
King at
Invicta Fighting Championships 43 on Nov. 20.
PFL officials announced the news in a release on Monday. Harrison
is still expected to compete in the promotion’s 2021 season, which
begins in April, at 155 pounds.
“I have been on a mission to show I am the best fighter,” Harrison
said. “I have been tackling challenges my entire career and this
bout at 145 pounds is a new and exciting one for me. I’m looking
forward to competing in this new weight class and can’t wait to get
back into the PFL cage come April.”
Additionally, Invicta FC confirmed that the originally scheduled
flyweight championship headliner between Pearl
Gonzalez and Erin
Blanchfield has been postponed after Gonzalez
tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, a strawweight title
tilt between Emily
Ducote and Montserrat
Ruiz has been elevated to the main event. In another change to
the card, Caitlin
Sammons will replace Trisha
Cicero and face Stephanie
Geltmacher in a flyweight bout.
Invicta FC 43 takes place in Kansas City and streams on UFC Fight
Pass at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Two new bouts were also announced for
the event: Hope Chase
vs. Brittney
Cloudy at bantamweight and Alexa Culp
vs. Meaghan
Penning at strawweight.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, Harrison went unbeaten in
four bouts during the 2019 PFL season. She claimed the $1 million
payout at lightweight with a five-round verdict against former UFC
competitor Larissa
Pacheco on Dec. 31. The 30-year-old American Top Team
representative is 7-0 as a professional, with three wins by
submission and two via TKO.
King is 4-1 thus far in her professional tenure, including a 1-1
mark in the all-female organization. She enters the matchup with
Harrison on a three-bout winning streak and is coming off a
fourth-round submission victory over Audrey
Wolfe in a title clash at Fury Fighting Championship 41 last
December.