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Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison introduced herself to the UFC with a second-round submission win over Holly Holm on the undercard of UFC 300 from Las Vegas.
There weren’t many moments that weren’t dominated by Harrison in the first round. She landed a judo throw early in the round that Holm reversed to wind up in top position but Harrison simply muscled her way back to her feet.
From there, Harrison took over.
The expert judoka threw Holm down at will and showed off her ground-and-pound skills. She hammered Holm with elbows, which weren’t allowed under PFL rules.
The dominance continued in the second round as Harrison went right back to the well. Her submission attempt could be considered mercy as she took Holm’s back and locked in a rear-naked choke that drew a nearly immediate tap.
Shaheen Al-Shatti @shaunalshatti
Kayla Harrison’s 1st UFC round: 46-1 edge in significant strikes.<br><br>Kayla Harrison’s 2nd UFC round: Instant RNC of an ex-champ. <br><br>The queen has arrived indeed. My goodness. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC300?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#UFC300</a>
Harrison made her name first in judo where she won gold at both the 2012 and 2016 games as well as just about every other tournament of significance in the sport. Much like fellow Judoka Ronda Rousey, she then made a successful transition to MMA.
Harrison took PFL by storm, winning the women’s lightweight tournament twice in that promotion. Up until now, the vast majority of her mixed martial arts career was spent in the PFL where she racked up a record of 16-1 with six knockouts and six submissions.
One of the most notable things about her UFC debut actually came the morning before her fight when she made the bantamweight limit. Harrison competed at 171 pounds in Judo and has bounced between featherweight (145 pounds) and lightweight (155 pounds) in PFL.
Proving that she can make the weight at 135 pounds opens up a whole new group of options as she transitions to the UFC.
But the goal for her is the same as it has been for all of her stops in combat sports: Gold.
“I’m a world champion, a two-time Olympic champion, I’ve won every tournament there is to win in judo, I’ve gotten plenty of money in the bank. But when I started MMA, the goal was to be UFC champion. And I had a year to think about if that was still my goal — and it is,” she said in the lead up to the fight, per Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting.
A win over Holly Holm might not mean what it used to. The former UFC and boxing champion is 5-6 with one No Contest over her last 12 fights, but she is still an experienced veteran with a top-five ranking.
Consider this win a warning for the rest of the division. Raquel Pennington might not be holding onto the belt for long.
First appeared on bleacherreport.com