Kayla Harrison feels she needs to eventually square off with Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Amanda Nunes to claim GOAT status.
Harrison recently re-signed with the PFL following a lengthy free agency process in which she flirted with the idea of signing with top promotions such as Bellator and the UFC. Bellator offered the top deal for Harrison before PFL matched and ultimately signed her to a new contract.
Harrison has recently said that earning GOAT status is attainable in the PFL, despite some critics noting her alleged lack of competition in the league. She is undefeated in her MMA career and is coming off of another championship-winning season in the PFL.
During a recent interview with The Schmo, Harrison laid out her roadmap towards potentially earning the title of the greatest combat sports athlete of all time.
“I just think I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other,” Harrison said. “I think I definitely need to beat Cyborg. I’d really like to fight Amanda, beat Amanda if I’m going to go ahead and say it. That’s obviously in the cards. I gotta win a couple more titles. If I win belts in every major organization or beat champions in every major organization, then does that make me the greatest of all time?”
Harrison has dominated her competition to this point in her professional career, most recently finishing Taylor Guardado and Genah Fabian. She is expected to get a step up in competition this year after the league signed former Bellator champion Julia Budd for the 2022 season.
Harrison had previously been coy regarding a fight with Nunes but seems more open to it now after Nunes’ departure from American Top Team. She and Justino have also gone back-and-forth on social media in recent weeks, ramping up talks of a fight between them.
Harrison will have the opportunity to silence the critics in 2022 and beyond. If she’s able to defeat top female fighters such as Nunes and Justino, it would be hard to argue against the notion that she deserves to be in the all-time great conversation.
How do you think Kayla Harrison would fare against Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg?
