UFC an unlikely destination for PFL champion Kayla Harrison

Current PFL women’s Lightweight champion, Kayla Harrison, is looking increasingly unlikely to become the UFC’s newest recruit after her price is considered to be ‘too high’ for Dana White.

The former Judoka Olympic champion most recently fought at the back end of October, submitting Taylor Guardardo in round 2, winning the 2021 PFL Women’s Lightweight tournament, in what looks to be her last fight under the PFL banner.

For months, there has been endless talks that the 31-year-old might end up in MMA’s biggest promotion, to be Amanda Nunes’ last true challenge at Featherweight, however, Dana White disagreed. White has never completely shut down the possibility of signing the current free agent, but he also hasn’t ever gave the impression that he wants to sign the American.

Before her final PFL bout, Dana White said: “They pay her an obscene amount of money to fight over there, if I was her, I’d stay right where she is and keep picking off the people over there.”

He went on to imply that he didn’t think she was one of the best female fighters on the planet and wasn’t ready for a step up in competition, saying: “Amanda Nunes is no joke, Shevchenko is no joke, Rose Namajunas (is no joke), these are all the best women in the world, these are the best female fighters in the world, I don’t blame her, I would stay there and keep fighting the type of women she’s fighting over there before coming over here and fighting an Amanda Nunes that’s for damn sure.”

Can Kayla Harrison change Dana Whites mind with one more PFL win?

The long and short of it is that, no, his mind hasn’t massively changed. Harrison has now earned another $1million from her recent tournament win. It is rumoured that Amanda Nunes, current GWOAT in MMA, earned a purse of $450k in her last fight, being significantly lower than what Harrison earned in her last fight.

According to long time MMA journalist, Ariel Helwani, the UFC’s stance is still the same on Harrison, and they are not expected to make a big move for the 31-year-old due to her price tag being too high.

Somewhere she may end up is under the Bellator banner. Scott Coker has made it no secret he is an admirer, and she was recently front row at Bellator 271. Before the event, Coker told Yahoo Sports: “I think that we would love to have a bigger conversation and see if we can come to some sort of arrangement. I mean, listen, it’s not just Kayla, but it’s really any free agent that’s out there at that world-class level that we feel could add value to the company.”

So with the likelihood of Nunes vs Harrison being dead in the water, how much does the possibility of Cyborg vs Harrison excite you as a fight fan?