Kayla Harrison showed the world why she should be feared with her first UFC title fight against Julianna Peña at UFC 316. She defeated Pena flawlessly with a kimura in the second round. While she was awarded the Performance of the Night bonus, Harrison also arguably put her future in the UFC at risk. Why? It was all because of her intimidation factor. 

During a recent conversation with Luis J. Gomez and Big Jay Oakerson on episode #2339 of the JRE, Joe Rogan weighed in on the big problem for the newly crowned bantamweight champion. She succeeded in getting her next bout slated against the retired and former champion, Amanda Nunes. But other than ‘The Lioness’, there wasn’t anyone who could survive against the 34-year-old, as per Rogan. 

The beloved UFC color commentator opined, “This lady’s got a problem, because if she, you know, other than the Amanda Nunes fight, who? Who’s gonna pay to watch her just steamroll somebody? You know, like, if she can continue to make 135, if she becomes a marathon runner or something and drops even more muscle mass and can make 135, who the f— is gonna be able to deal with that?” 

That was when Gomez compared Harrison with the legendary Mike Tyson. He said, “Almost like Mike Tyson back in the day became a thing where they started like offering you money back on the pay-per-views if he didn’t last at least 2 rounds. Yeah, that was the whole thing. It was like because he was knocking people out so fast. It was like, you know, I’m not paying for this.”

Rogan had no choice but to agree. He pointed out that people usually want  PPV fights to go on as long as possible. But having fighters win via finishes within the first minute was nothing short of a disappointing event. He claimed on the latest JRE episode, “I remember people being bummed out. It was like a 30-second knockout.” 

But there was another factor that put Harrison and Tyson in the same group. Let’s take a look at the similarity index that the UFC women’s bantamweight champion observed with ‘The Baddest Man On The Planet’. 

Kayla Harrison doesn’t believe she’s any different from Mike Tyson

Talking to Insider after her KO win over Mariana Morais back in 2021, Kayla Harrison weighed in on how Mike Tyson would fare in the MMA world. She said, “I think he would have been a superstar. There are certain people in life who are successful no matter what they do and when you meet them, you know. Tyson is no different. If he’d been a tennis player, he’d have been the best in the world — that’s my firm belief.”

But what was the similarity between the two? Harrison saw herself as a champion like ‘Iron Mike’. And it all began with the champion’s mindset. She claimed, “Your mindset is a powerful thing and every great champion I know has come from tough times and a lot of obstacles. That mental toughness, and that drive from within, it can’t be satiated or stopped. So I’m no different in the sense that judo just happened to be what I did. If I joined the tennis team, the championship mindset is that you find a way [to win].”

But that toughness came with a humongous issue. As Tyson continued to dominate the squared ring, he became feared among his peers and rivals. There came a time when fighters refused to go up against the former heavyweight champion. And as Rogan pointed out, the same would probably come true for Harrison. With her strength and skills, she has already struck her opponents with fear. But after the fight with Nunes, would anyone wish to tackle the bantamweight champion?