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UFC 300: MMA Insider Slams Kayla Harrison for Joining Dana White to Avoid a Better Financial Fight- “Doesn’t Make Sense”

Published 01/26/2024, 5:30 AM EST

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Dana White has announced another fight for the UFC 300 anniversary mega-card. Two-time Judo Olympic gold medallist and former PFL women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison will join the UFC and face former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm on the UFC’s 300th PPV event on April 13 in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While this is being seen as a good move for both the UFC and Harrison, not everyone is on board. On their ‘Weighing-In’ podcast, legendary MMA referee John McCarthy and former UFC star Josh ‘Punk’ Thomson reminded the former Judo champion of all the promises she had made fans earlier.

John McCarthy is not convinced about Kayla Harrison joining  the UFC

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‘Big’ John McCarthy had some questions for Kayla Harrison when discussing news of her joining the UFC and taking on Holm at UFC 300. The referee reminded the Judoka of her earlier statements where she had said she wanted to fight the best competition. He certainly made his opinion known that she wouldn’t get what she wants in the UFC women’s featherweight division, especially after champion Amanda Nunes retired last year.

“Oh my God, Josh. Have you heard? Kayla Harrison is going to the UFC now look. I’m gonna sit here and say this as as bluntly as I can, I love Kayla I think she’s great but there’s a huge but coming. I have heard nothing, nothing but ‘I want to fight the very best’. There’s nobody in the UFC in the 145 pound division really. Amanda [Nunes] walked away, she’s gone… So there’s nobody in that division,” he declared.

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‘Big John’ was reminded of Harrison wanting to take on women’s MMA icon and former UFC and current Bellator lightweight champion Cris Cyborg. He believed that even from a financial standpoint the fight was not good for Harrison as she would have made more money fighting Cyborg.

“She kept on saying ‘there’s this bad bi*** I want to fight: (Cris) Cyborg’. Awesome. And you walked away from it Kayla. Josh, this doesn’t make sense. It can’t be the money, there’s no way she’s going to make more money fighting Holly Holm than she would have (fighting) Cris Cyborg. And the competition, what happened to ‘I want the best competition’?” he counted.

With the former PFL champion having decided to fight Holm in the UFC, the fight will not only be significant for her but for the whole division in general.

Harrison vs. Holm added to UFC 300

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Harrison’s upcoming UFC 300 debut bout against #5 ranked Holly Holm is expected to be a classic grappler vs. striker contest. While the debutante is going into the fight as the betting favorite, Holm. But her long experience at the top-most level in the UFC and penchant for playing spoiler at big moments should not be underestimated.

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Raquel Pennington defeated Mayra Beuno Silva at UFC 297 to win the vacant women’s 135-pound title last Sunday. And a win over Holm at the April card would certainly put Harrison up there in the title mix, perhaps two or even one fight from a title shot.

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Even as UFC 300 gets another great matchup, fans are eagerly waiting for the main event to be announced which is expected to knock their socks off.

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Written by:

Kanishk Thakur

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Hi, I am Kanishk and I am a UFC Writer at EssentiallySports. I love telling the stories of these magnificent fighters and this wildly unpredictable sport that is so frustrating and yet so joyous at the same time. I never really used to watch MMA, thinking it too crude or brutal a sport to deserve respect.
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Edited by:

Joyita Das