The former UFC bantamweight champion has an opportunity to play party pooper at UFC 300. The Preacher’s Daughter clashes with promotional newcomer Kayla Harrison in what is a highly anticipated bout at 135lbs. Holm has the chance to not only steal the hype away from Harrison but also defend the honour of the UFC and prove that the world’s leading organisation has the best athletes in every weight class.
Harrison’s Hype
Understandably, Harrison is entering UFC 300 with a huge amount of hype behind her. The two time Olympic gold medallist and two time PFL Tournament champion was, at one point one of the most feared women in the game. Granted, some of that aura has been lost after she lost to Larissa Pacheco, however, she still enters the UFC octagon as a woman to be weary of. She’s a good talker, solid all around fighter and not short on confidence at all.
Importantly, she must make 135lbs for the first time in her career on April 12th, the day before UFC 300. What she looks like on the scale will either continue to build her hype before fight night or will burst the bubble massively.
The debut of Harrison is long overdue. She seemingly was set to sign with the UFC and meet Amanda Nunes. Harrison was front row at UFC 269 in 2021 when Nunes lost to Julianna Pena, which all but killed a potential fight between the two women. Since then, the potential of seeing Harrison in the UFc depleted, with her going back to the PFL and going 4-1. It’s now or never for Harrison, but she has a tough test in Holm.
Holm vs a Judoka – When have we seen that before?
Holly Holm has the opportunity at UFC 300 to kill the hype of an elite Judoka in Kayla Harrison and steal any potential new fans that she might bring over to the UFC. It’s an uphill battle, however, it’s not like we haven’t seen Holm be a big underdog going into a fight with a judoka on a massive stage beforehand.
At UFC 193, Holly Holm clashed with UFC bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey and was a huge underdog. Granted, this was nine years ago, however, The Preacher’s Daughter used her elite footwork, hall-of-fame level boxing and overall well-rounded MMA game to nullify, embarrass and ultimately finish the previously undefeated, dominant, Rousey.
We could very much see the same play out in Las Vegas at UFC 300. If Harrison doesn’t respect Holm, isn’t switched on or has had too much taken out of her from an assumed brutal weight cut, Holm could easily walk away as the victor. Only time will tell!
