Two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison returns to competition for the first time in a year on Friday, when she meets Aspen Ladd in a nontitle fight at the PFL Championships in Washington (ESPN+ PPV, 5 p.m. ET).
It has been a quiet, uncharacteristic year for Harrison (15-1). She suffered the first loss of her career last November to Larissa Pacheco in the 2022 PFL lightweight final. She has sat out of competition all of 2023, waiting for the PFL to try to book a fight against women’s MMA pioneer Cris Cyborg, the Bellator MMA featherweight champion. That potential fight fell apart in May, when Cyborg turned down an offer from the PFL and signed a multifight deal to stay with Bellator.
However, with the PFL announcing the long-rumored acquisition of Bellator on Monday, the chance of a Harrison vs. Cyborg matchup is back on the table.
Harrison’s career has been full of the tease of a mega-fight. Cyborg has felt close on multiple occasions, and there was hope of Harrison facing UFC two-weight champion Amanda Nunes at some point. But Nunes, a former teammate of Harrison’s, elected to retire in July.
Ahead of her first fight of 2023, Harrison reflects on the challenges of sitting on a loss for so long, and how she’s handled the ongoing…
