Kayla Harrison: The Future of Women’s MMA?

So last week, while trying to find something to write about (before giving up to play some God of War), I debated whether it was worth highlighting the professional MMA debut of Greg Hardy, the former defensive end for the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys who, after getting drummed out of the NFL, has reemerged on the fighting scene, winning 3 amateur fights by knockout before winning the same way against Austen Lane on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, earning a contract in the process, since Dana was pretty much looking for a reason not to sign him.

And it’s hard not to see the upside to signing Hardy. Not only does he have dynamite in his hands and is developing his skills at a breakneck pace, he represents the type of athlete the UFC would ideally like to bring into the sport.

There’s a lot of large guys out there who, with proper training, could excel in combat sports, but most of those athletes choose to pursue team sports like football and basketball for obvious reasons. If Hardy can be successful in MMA, and if that success comes while he’s competing for the UFC (which, if we choose to believe Dana, won’t be for a while *WINK*), it could go a long way in bringing more athletic big men into the fold so that Stipe Miocic will actually have someone to fight a year from now.

Prove me wrong, Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov. Prove me wrong.

But it’s also hard to ignore the baggage that Hardy brings, especially because every article written about him mentions the fact that he was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend (the charges were dropped after an appeal). I’m not going to debate the merit of giving men who have done the things that Hardy has done a second chance or whether it makes any logical sense to allow a man who has put his hands on another human in anger to pursue a sport where he gets paid to hurt people. I ain’t doing it.

Those are some murky waters so I’m staying out. If Dana wants to hitch his wagon to a PR nightmare like Hardy, that’s on him. He’s barely capable of promoting the decent fighters on the roster. Let’s see how long he can keep this spin job going.

Instead, let’s focus on another MMA debut that just took place, one where a former medalist in Olympic judo blazed through her opponent, winning by armbar in the first round, showing the world the potential she possesses and the possibilities her success could bring to the future of women’s MMA.

Wait, this story sounds familiar. Am I talking about the Professional Fighters League’s second event last Thursday or this past Wrestlemania?

This obviously isn’t a story about the woman who popularized women’s MMA or the woman who was the first to be featured in a main event. This isn’t the story of the woman who convinced the UFC that women fighters were worth featuring in one or multiple weight classes.

This is, however, the story of the way forward for women’s MMA and the question of who may lead the next charge in the wake of the old guard getting older or getting out of the sport.

Ronda Rousey is gone. Miesha Tate is gone. Cris Cyborg could be out after another fight or two. Holly Holm is plugging along even though she’s getting older and has come nowhere close to the success or relevance she had 3 years ago. Gina Carano is presumably still waiting for Vin Diesel to call her agent again.

So who is the way forward? It may very well be Kayla Harrison.

Now that’s a lot to say of someone who literally fought for the very first time on Thursday but, for a debut, she looked great. Kayla was dominant in controlling and submitting Brittney Elkin, one of the biggest fighters physically that PFL could find for Kayla. Kayla had been training for that fight for over a year and, if that fight was any indication of her progression, she’s doing a good job transitioning from one sport to another.

Not that it should be too big a surprise considering the success she had in her previous sport. The MMA media did a masterful job hyping Ronda Rousey’s judo credentials as part of her story, winning a 4th place bronze at the 2008 Olympics before the pain of losing drove her away and into the arms of MMA (before the pain of losing there drove her into the arms of Vince McMahon, but you already know that story).

Kayla didn’t qualify for the 2008 Olympic team but she did qualify for both the 2012 and 2016 teams, winning gold medals at both games. Kayla is the most decorated Olympian to enter the sport of MMA, which should be exciting for any fan of combat sports.

Success in one sport obviously doesn’t automatically mean success in another but the transition should be easier for Kayla because she already has a blueprint to follow in Ronda. Not just that, she has the luxury of studying Ronda’s career to see what she did well and where she struggled and incorporate that into her training so that she can become a greater technical fighter than Ronda was.

Of course, women’s MMA today is different than it was back in 2013 but that doesn’t mean a specialist like Kayla can’t still dominate. The evolution of women’s MMA has been a good decade behind the men (due to lack of exposure for a longer stretch of time) and there are still very few truly well rounded female fighters. That was made apparent when the woman who was expected to be the biggest challenge to Cris Cyborg in Megan Anderson got mauled by Holly Holm at UFC 225.

Cris herself is just a Muay Thai fighter. She just happens to be so good at it that no one in MMA can find a way to deal with it.

Could Kayla be the one to figure Cris out in MMA? That’s a lofty question to throw out at this point but, considering the size of both women, it’s understandable that the talk of women’s MMA is going to shift towards a showdown between the UFC Champion and the Olympian at some point.

That’s the challenge that Kayla, and PFL, will have moving forward is finding competition for Kayla. She fought on the PFL card at 155 pounds but the intention is that she’ll work towards 145, a weight class that has technically existed in the UFC for almost a year and a half despite having next to no fighters in the weight class besides the champion.

At least UFC may be attempting to establish a division now, as the tryouts for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter did include women featherweights. How well that works out remains to be seen but, if Kayla can get a few more wins under her belt and look as impressive as she did in her debut, the UFC could see her as an asset to help push that division forward and maybe see the dollar signs that could form from a fight between her and Cyborg, the fight that Rousey never took.

That’s assuming Dana wouldn’t expect her to fight at 135. That’s also assuming Dana doesn’t start calling her “Ronda” too.

Either way, there’s a lot of potential for Kayla in MMA. Thursday was just the start. Let’s see where this journey will take her.

Also, let’s hope that, if she fights in Illinois again, she’s careful. Did you know they’ll let you win a fight by kicking your opponent in the nuts? Somebody get Keith Hackney on the phone…

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.