Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison: What to know about the UFC 300 fight, including who's favored
Jan. 24—The last time Albuquerque's Holly Holm fought an Olympic medalist in judo, she scored an upset for the ages and became the UFC bantamweight champion.
If Holm defeats Kayla Harrison on April 13, she won't win a UFC title. While a Holm victory would constitute an upset — oddsmakers have made Harrison a strong early favorite — it wouldn't be an upset to rival Holm's November 2015 victory over Ronda Rousey in Australia.
Even so, said Lenny Fresquez, Holm's longtime Albuquerque promoter and agent, a victory over the Harrison on UFC 300 in Las Vegas, Nevada "would open all kinds of doors for Holly."
Tuesday evening, UFC President Dana White announced that his organization had signed Harrison, a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist and an MMA fighter with a 16-1 record in competition outside the UFC. Simultaneously, White announced Holm (15-6, one no-decision) would be Harrison's opponent on UFC 300.
The Rousey-Harrison comparison is not limited to judo, a sport in which Rousey won an Olympic bronze medal in 2008; Harrison won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016.
Fighting principally in the Professional Fighters League, Harrison was fast approaching the same apparent indomitability that Rousey had achieved before her shocking loss to Holm in Melbourne.
Harrison won her first 15 MMA fights before finally losing by unanimous decision to Larissa Pacheco, a fighter she'd beaten in the past. Harrison came back to beat former UFC fighter Aspen Ladd in what proved to be her final PFL fight.
The Holm-Harrison fight has been made at the bantamweight limit of 135, at which Holm has fought all but three of her 22 MMA fights. Fresquez believes that could be a major problem for Harrison, who has fought all but two of her 17 fights at the lightweight limit of 155 pounds. She has fought once at the featherweight limit of 145.
The fight wasn't going to happen, Fresquez said, at any weight above 136 pounds — the one extra pound permitted for non-title fights.
"Holly will fight anybody at 135," he said.
With regard to the disparity in the two fighters' records, it's apparent that Holm has fought better and tougher opponents competing in the UFC than Harrison has in the PFL. Five of Holm's six losses have come against fighters who at some point held UFC title belts.
What would have been Holm's seventh loss — by second-round submission to Brazil's Mayra Bueno Silva last July — was ruled no contest because Bueno Silva had tested positive for a banned substance.
Regarding Holm's stated goal in continuing to fight at age 42 — regaining the UFC bantamweight title she won from Rousey and lost to Miesha Tate in her next fight — it's not clear how the Harrison fight factors in.
On Saturday in Toronto, Colorado Springs' Raquel Pennington defeated Bueno Silva by unanimous decision to claim the bantamweight title vacated by champion Amanda Nunes' retirement.
Holm has defeated Pennington twice, but — though there's been no announcement to this effect — it's expected that Pennington's first defense will be against former champion Julianna Peña, who upset Nunes for the title in December 2021 but lost the rematch the following July.
And about those odds: As of Wednesday, Harrison was a minus-310 favorite, meaning a bettor would have to put down $310 to win $100 should Harrison win.
Holm was a plus-250 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on Holm would result in a payoff of $250 should Holm win.
