It was unavoidable that Kayla Harrison would receive comparisons to Ronda Rousey when she first made her transition into MMA.
Both came from judo backgrounds with Rousey becoming the first woman from the United States to capture a medal at the Olympics only to be outdone by Harrison, who ended up with a pair of gold medals in back-to-back games. While Rousey’s contributions to the sport are almost immeasurable, especially given the fact that she played a part in Dana White actually bringing women to the UFC, Harrison may eventually surpass her again.
That’s according to Harrison’s longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz, who has been with her since before she was even fighting and now she stands on the precipice of potentially fighting for gold again if she gets through Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307.
“This is no disrespect to Ronda, she’s great, she opened the door for all of the women but Kayla, all the time, did things much better than her,” Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “[Ronda] won a bronze medal. Kayla won two gold medals. The way Kayla is going to beat people, I don’t think Ronda was ever going to beat people the way Kayla is going to do it.
“I’m talking about dominance. She doesn’t say much but she does a lot of damage. She inflicts a lot of pain.”
In her octagon debut, Harrison ran roughshod over former champion Holly Holm, submitting her with a rear-naked choke in the second round at UFC 300. Holm was the fighter that famously dethroned Rousey back in 2015 when Rousey was on top of the world and seemingly unbeatable.
Comparisons aside, Harrison is forging her own path in the UFC after she grew up competing in the PFL and through one fight thus far, her style has certainly translated between promotions.
Having witnessed other fighters on his roster like UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov and current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev dominate the competition, Abdelaziz believes that Harrison can do the same now that she’s in the UFC.
“She smothers people, she punishes them,” Abdelaziz said. “She creates a lot of damage, creates a lot of chaos and it’s exciting at the same time. Khabib was always exciting. Kayla is always exciting. Kayla has never been in a boring fight. That’s what Kayla does. She’s a world class athlete. She’s an A-plus, two-time Olympic champion and the way she dominates people, she makes you be like, ‘Why am I doing this?’
“She makes people rethink their careers. Anybody Kayla is going to fight, they are going to rethink their career. It doesn’t matter who. No disrespect to nobody. She’s the best. She’s the most dominant and Saturday night you’re going to see one more time why I keep saying that for the last 10 years.”
If Harrison gets through Vieira on Saturday, all signs point towards her getting a shot at the title against the winner of the UFC 307 main event between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña.
There’s a world where Harrison could have just slipped right into a title fight after her win against Holm in April but Abdelaziz understands why the UFC went in a different direction.
“It was talked [about Kayla getting a title shot] but I think the UFC previously they promised Julianna they would give her a title shot,” Abdelaziz revealed. “It was kind of promised and these guys, you like it or not, they give you their word, they always keep it. I respect their opinion. It’s OK. If Kayla believes she’s the best in the world, she has to smash everybody. I believe she is the best in the world. I believe Ketlen Vieira is a great fighter, a great test for Kayla. I think Saturday night, Kayla’s going to show why she’s the best female fighter on the planet in any division.
“[Kayla is next for the title], this is what [the UFC] said but in reality [crazy things] happen in the sport. Kayla needs to do what she has to do on Saturday night and I think 99.9 percent she is next. Undoubtedly, nobody can tell her she’s not.”
Whether it’s Pennington or Pena, none of that seems to matter much to Harrison and the same goes for her manager. No matter what he expects Harrison to have a title around her waist soon enough.
“If the champ wants to retire [rather than fight her], I understand,” Abdelaziz said. “I don’t want to fight Kayla, too.”
