PFL re-signing Kayla Harrison is a loss for everyone - PFL included

SokoudjouFanboy

SokoudjouFanboy

39 tried, just 19 succeeded
@Brown
Joined
Apr 28, 2021
Messages
3,079
Reaction score
3,240
It's already obvious how the fans and Kayla Harrison lose here. Having listened to (gutted through at times) a bunch of her interviews I genuinely believe Kayla wants to be known as more then a can crusher. This season of PFL is going to do nothing for that side of her career. She'll be paid well but she's also a competitor who worked her entire life to become a 2x Olympic gold medalist when that wasn't necessarily an especially lucrative path. While taking the safest money is a decision I don't have a problem with it's not the one I believe Kayla wanted to make.

The fans miss out on fights with Nunes or more likely Cyborg in 2022 and furthermore have to watch another season of w155 in the PFL unfold.

Why does the PFL lose though? Obviously it's stars that sell in MMA but when you're trying to do a league format you know what's also super important? A league that's compelling to follow. PFL and a niche division built around a single individual simply do not mix. The division that is created around her is a farce and consists of blown up bantamweights and featherweights. There's no drama, every fight not involving Kayla is leading up to Kayla swallowing an outmatched opponent who's outsized with far less experience. PFL really needs to ask themselves: Is this really what the fans want?

I for one love the PFL's format and am a huge fan overall but it's pretty clear that w155 night from a fan's perspective is very underwhelming. Hell, look at the challengers card on Friday. It fucking sucks. I'm about as hardcore a fan as there gets and there's no way I'm watching it. The average number of pro MMA fights across the 8 fighters is 2.1(!). Are we supposed to believe any of these girls are going to amount to anything other then cannon fodder for the much more experienced half of the field? Even if Kayla wasn't there.

Imagine a PFL bantamweight division and how much more interesting that is then w155.

TL;DR - This is sucks
 
I would have loved to see Kayla sign with the UFC, but Nunes losing to Pena really took the sails out of the idea of a super fight between the two. Sure, Nunes still holds the 145 belt, which I'm sure what Kayla would be challenging for, but that belt is a completely empty shell with there being almost no one in that division and even more so with Pena's win. Far from the super fight it could have been when both were seen as kind of unbeatable.

Maybe if Nunes comes back and does to Pena what GSP did to Serra, you could salvage it, but that would still buy Kayla another PFL season easily to sort it out. And even then, an immediate rematch might be too soon. GSP had a couple of fights to work his confidence back. Seems like immediate rematches often favor the winner of the first. Of course that's no guarantee (Fig vs Moreno for example), but it's the winner of that first fight with the confidence on their side.
 
There really isn't much else for her to do.
 
The natty GOAT.

pjimage-2022-03-01T165426.214-696x385.jpg.webp
 
Meh, nothing lost at all.

Literally the best can crusher of all time male or female. I'm not sure if her odds of winning would change if she literally were fighting human corpses. Hell, at least in that case, she might lose by getting infected.

There are like five featherweights in UFC WMMA division. What's such a great loss for not adding a sixth WMMA fighter who's literally fought no competition worthwhile?
 
Save that money on Harrison, fuck that signing, use that to pry Nemkov and Amosov away from Bellator. Maybe Stots down the road and maybe Pico or Mckee.

Waste of money imo for what's going to sign her. She would wanna get paid, for what, unproven Judo double-gold medalist in six-women division whose champ quit in a weight class below in worst display from a champ ever?

https://www.ufc.com/rankings

UFC literally doesn't HAVE a ranking for WMMA featherweight division period.

Would be complete waste of money. Use that money to re-sign Mousasi, sign Amosov, Nemkov, Stots and Pico and Mckee jr, if possible.
 
UFC should sign Yan's sparring partner who was on Russian Judo team before signing someone like her as well imo.
 
SokoudjouFanboy said:
It's already obvious how the fans and Kayla Harrison lose here. Having listened to (gutted through at times) a bunch of her interviews I genuinely believe Kayla wants to be known as more then a can crusher. This season of PFL is going to do nothing for that side of her career. She'll be paid well but she's also a competitor who worked her entire life to become a 2x Olympic gold medalist when that wasn't necessarily an especially lucrative path. While taking the safest money is a decision I don't have a problem with it's not the one I believe Kayla wanted to make.

The fans miss out on fights with Nunes or more likely Cyborg in 2022 and furthermore have to watch another season of w155 in the PFL unfold.

Why does the PFL lose though? Obviously it's stars that sell in MMA but when you're trying to do a league format you know what's also super important? A league that's compelling to follow. PFL and a niche division built around a single individual simply do not mix. The division that is created around her is a farce and consists of blown up bantamweights and featherweights. There's no drama, every fight not involving Kayla is leading up to Kayla swallowing an outmatched opponent who's outsized with far less experience. PFL really needs to ask themselves: Is this really what the fans want?

I for one love the PFL's format and am a huge fan overall but it's pretty clear that w155 night from a fan's perspective is very underwhelming. Hell, look at the challengers card on Friday. It fucking sucks. I'm about as hardcore a fan as there gets and there's no way I'm watching it. The average number of pro MMA fights across the 8 fighters is 2.1(!). Are we supposed to believe any of these girls are going to amount to anything other then cannon fodder for the much more experienced half of the field? Even if Kayla wasn't there.

Imagine a PFL bantamweight division and how much more interesting that is then w155.

TL;DR - This is sucks
Click to expand...

Tbf although they don't have the records there's some credentials there. There's two former IMMAF champions and a US national team wrestler.
 
Would one fight in the UFC or Bellator really be worth signing her to a big contract? There's Nunes, there's Cyborg, and beyond that there's no legitimate opponents for her to fight. I feel bad for her but her division just doesn't exist. At least PFL can feed her Julia Budd.
 
It's a win for Kayla. She makes the most money fighting unknown fighters with less experience.
 
Hellowhosthat said:
Tbf although they don't have the records there's some credentials there. There's two former IMMAF champions and a US national team wrestler.
Click to expand...
Yeah I know and to be fair that's what the UFC should have started doing 9 years ago. My point is more in the fact that these girls are very early and unless someone takes to MMA quickly are just fodder for the more experienced girls. That doesn't mesh with the whole PFL format. They need to stick to a mix of established names and unproven young veterans. Since those names don't exist in her weight class they should scrap the weight class and add a weight class that does - ie Bantamweight.
 
blaseblah said:
Would one fight in the UFC or Bellator really be worth signing her to a big contract? There's Nunes, there's Cyborg, and beyond that there's no legitimate opponents for her to fight. I feel bad for her but her division just doesn't exist. At least PFL can feed her Julia Budd.
Click to expand...
Her and a healthy Cat may be an interesting fight. As long as Cat doesn't do what she did against Rhonda (which also would have been a decent fight, after seeing what she did to Tate on the inside with those knees)
 
she basically gets a free million dollars every year by fighting in the weakest tournament in sports history

why would she bother going to the UFC and fighting in the second weakest division in MMA?
 
Hard disagree.
If you find a company willing to overpay you then milk it
 
Nunes wasn't returning to 145 until the end of the year anyways. Let Harrison crush a few more cans, build up a little more hype and bring her over after the season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,263,407
Messages
57,225,617
Members
175,592
Latest member
HJGFDS

Share this page

Back
Top