UFC 300: Kayla Harrison introduces herself to UFC fans with utter domination of Holly Holm
During UFC 300, Kayla Harrison emerged victorious over Holly Holm in a bantamweight bout. The fight was captured in a photograph by Jeff Bottari of Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.
Kayla Harrison is an intimidating force and her UFC debut didn't require all three rounds to showcase this fact.
The fighter, who hails from Ohio and is 33 years old, defeated the renowned UFC fighter Holly Holm by using a chokehold move in the second round of their bantamweight match. This exciting victory took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during UFC 300 on Saturday. Amazingly, the fighter suffered no injuries during the match and boldly declared that she would become a UFC champion before the year's end.
Harrison started practicing judo when she was six and went on to make history by becoming the first American to win a gold medal in the sport at the 2012 Olympics. She followed that up by snagging another gold in 2016. Holm, who used to be the UFC bantamweight champion, is more widely recognized for her impressive striking skills.
In 2015, Holm emerged victorious against Ronda Rousey, a judoka who had previously earned an Olympic bronze medal. The entire world was taken aback when Holm managed to defeat the bantamweight champion with a vicious kick during the second round. It's considered one of the most unexpected triumphs in UFC history.
Despite it being almost a decade ago, Holm went into the fight on Saturday feeling just as self-assured. During the first round, she found herself on the ground twice while attempting to counter a takedown by Harrison early on. Holm was then at the receiving end of a brutal attack while on the ground before the round's conclusion - a nightmare situation when up against someone like Harrison.
At the start of the second round, Holm's eyes started to swell up. She had only managed to hit Harrison once in the previous five minutes, while Harrison had landed 46 significant strikes. Holm surrendered after 1 minute and 47 seconds of the second round, bringing an end to a fight that she was consistently losing. It was a relief for her that the fight was over.
After winning the game, Harrison talked to Joe Rogan and requested for a title fight.
"I came here for one specific reason, Joe," she declared. "My goal is to achieve the title next, and I won't be satisfied until I do. I'm determined to become the UFC champion by the end of the year, regardless of whether I face off against Raquel [Pennington] or Julianna [Peña]."
Although she didn't mention Amanda Nunes by name, the Greatest of All Time still reacted to her challenge. The GOAT shared a video of her listening to the call out and letting out a yell once it was over.
Nunes penned down "Chama," which is Brazilian jargon for "let's go," along with her post.
Certainly, Nunes decided to retire in the previous summer following her bantamweight title defense against Irene Aldana at UFC 289. Considering that she left the sport while holding both the women's bantamweight championship and featherweight championship titles, it's quite possible that she would come back to compete in a matchup that is deserving of her.
Harrison might make for a suitable adversary.
