A longtime UFC fan favorite is high on Kayla Harrison, so much so that he doesn’t see anybody in the bantamweight division being able to beat her.
Harrison, a two-time title winner under the PFL banner, will feature on the main card of this weekend’s UFC 307 pay-per-view in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she’s set to make her second outing inside the Octagon.
After establishing herself as a dominant force outside MMA’s leading promotion, Harrison got her pursuit of gold in the UFC underway in strong fashion this past April with a submission win over former champ Holly Holm.
To secure a likely title shot down the line, the 34-year-old former judoka is next tasked with getting the better of #2-ranked contender Ketlen Vieira in the “Beehive State.”
And by the sounds of things, recently retired UFC veteran Matt Brown has little doubt about who will have their hand raised in that matchup…
Brown On Harrison Joining BW Division: ‘If I’m The Champion, I’m Retiring’
During the latest episode of MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer, Brown discussed Harrison’s successful arrival into the UFC women’s bantamweight division earlier this year.
Having seen the manner with which the Ohio native dispatched Holm, “The Immortal” doesn’t see anybody on the roster at 135 pounds capable of halting Harrison’s charge.
“I feel bad for the girls in that division. If I’m the champion, I’m retiring. If I’m Raquel Pennington or I’m Julianna Peña and I win the fight, I’m out. I’m pulling an Eddie Bravo here. Win the big one and I’m done,” Brown said. “I wasn’t quite as big of a believer until the way I watched her beat Holly Holm. Because I just didn’t know about the weight cut, and how she was going to perform (after) the weight cut, and sometimes people change when they come to the UFC. They’re just not what we thought they were when they were in a different organization.
“I think she answered every question very clearly. She’s going to come in, and I don’t think anybody has a chance against her,” Brown continued. “We’re on the way to the Kayla Harrison era. I think she wrecks everybody in that division, including Amanda if she comes back. I don’t think anybody stands a chance against Kayla. I think she is a major problem for everybody in there. … She is an absolute terror for this division.”
Harrison will look to prove Brown right come fight night in Salt Lake City this weekend, when she shares the card with another “terror” in UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira.
The pair recently got familiar with one another on the mats, with Harrison teaching “Poatan” some judo moves. Her ability to take the Brazilian down is perhaps strong evidence for Brown’s prediction of dominance for the two-time Olympic gold medalist at 135 pounds.
