LAS VEGAS — Kayla Harrison‘s UFC debut could not have gone any better.
The former two-time Olympic judo champion dominated former champion and combat sports legend Holly Holm, beating Holm with a rear-naked choke submission at 1 minute, 47 seconds of the second round Saturday on the prelims of UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena.
“I want my title next. That’s what I came over here for — one thing and one thing only,” Harrison said in her postfight interview. “By the end of the year, I will be UFC champion.”
Harrison, who was cutting to bantamweight for the first time in her MMA career, took Holm down in the first round and blasted her with hard ground and pound, including elbows. Those elbows were a major factor in the fight. Harrison was not able to use those in PFL, where she previously fought due to that promotion’s rules. Harrison was a two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion.
The second round was more of the same. Harrison went for a head kick and then shot in for a takedown, which succeeded. She grabbed for a guillotine choke, which Holm defended. But then she landed a judo trip, got Holm’s back and sunk in the rear-naked choke for the victory.
Harrison outlanded Holm 51-2, including 46-1 in the first…
