If Kayla Harrison is having trouble finding female competitors, she might want to think about taking on male fighters in the Octagon.
This suggestion was put forward by Harrison’s manager and Dominance MMA founder Ali Abdelaziz in a recent interview on Submission Radio.
“I think let’s make her fight some men,” Abdelaziz proposed. “And I believe she can win, beat all these guys I just mentioned. The UFC offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for a female fighter to accept a fight, and nobody wanted it. But they’re not going to have no choice. The UFC is going to have to strip them from the title or something. But listen, Hunter Campbell is working on this. They will get her a fight. But nobody wants to fight her” (h/t MMA Mania).
Harrison made a significant impression in her UFC debut at UFC 300 in April with a second-round submission victory over former bantamweight world champion Holly Holm. This win propelled the two-time Olympic gold medalist to the No. 4 spot in the 135-pound rankings, positioning her for a title shot after just one fight.
However, it seems that current champion Racquel Pennington and top-ranked contender Julianna Pena are not keen on facing her.
Abdelaziz Proposes Kayla Harrison to Fight Aljamain Sterling and/or Merab Dvalishvili
Building on his comments, Abdelaziz suggested that if Harrison needs to consider male opponents for a fight, she should aim high and think about taking on former champions like Aljamain Sterling or Merab Dvalishvili.
“Merab (Dvalishvili) or Aljamain Sterling,” Abdelaziz continued. “Yeah. I think it’s a very competitive fight. It’s not fair. It’s not, honestly, because if none of these girls want to fight her, let’s fight somebody at 135. Let’s fight some, you know, Rob Font. But I think her wrestling is too good for Rob Font.”
“It’s not even a fair fight. Or maybe this Brazilian guy. What’s his name? Former champion. I think she’ll smash all these guys, honestly. Because none of these females, they’re gonna want to fight her. Especially after what she did to Holly.”
