Kayla Harrison, perhaps the longtime face of the Professional Fighters League, is currently in the UFC, and PFL co-founder Don Davis hopes she's still on the roster, but even without her… I believe there will be no problem with promotion.
After Harrison's win over Aspen Ladd at the PFL World Championship in November of this year, Davis believed he still had one fight left on Harrison's PFL contract, but he ended up signing with the UFC, and on April 13 She will face Holly Holm at UFC 300. He asked how things were going and Davis answered honestly.
“I don’t know,” Davis said on The MMA Hour. “And I talked to Kayla and I believe that Kayla and I have a very good relationship, but I don't know.” [what happened]. So I can only speculate, and I don't really like to speculate about other people.
“So, one, I don’t know, two, I’m disappointed. So I think – different from my husband. [White] When he talks about other fighters, there is a negative trend when they leave, a negative trend when the UFC doesn't do what they want them to do – here, I was disappointed. PFL has never lost a fighter in his six years, but remember that PFL was not in strong company in his first, second, and third years. Since we are a new company, there were many reasons for fighters to quit, but they never quit. Well, did you release the fighters? yes. Have you upgraded your fighter? Yes, because we were always getting better. This is the first time in six years that no fighter has left the tournament.
“And ironically, the PFL is stronger than ever and the matchup with Kayla Harrison was better than the matchup she was going to get in the UFC. Although she was scheduled to fight Cris Cyborg , I believe this is the greatest fight possible in the women's division. It's a legacy and career statement fight for her. [Then] Larisa Pacheco won fair and square. So for Kayla, the next couple of fights in the PFL are harder than the UFC and bigger than the UFC. So I don't know. She couldn't really explain her motives for quitting and was very disappointed. ”
Harrison made 16 appearances for the promotion, which was originally the World Series of Fighting before moving to the PFL, appearing in one Invicta match and losing a decision to Pacheco at the PFL World Championship in November 2022. They won all but one game. After PFL absorbed Bellator in November of this year, a fight with Cyborg seemed inevitable.
Unfortunately, that fight may never happen, and Davis admits he's disappointed that there wasn't a fight involving Harrison for the promotion. But ultimately, Davis feels PFL can move forward with great success without her.
“That being said, the PFL is stronger than ever, so we have 80 fighters ranked in the top 25 and 33 fighters ranked in the top 15, so we're good to go,” Davis explained Did. “When people post about the UFC, they're like, oh, it's okay if Conor doesn't fight this year, or whatever. So our brand, our reputation, our finances, there's zero impact from Kayla not being here.
“But personally, I don't like when fighters leave. So I wish she was here.”
