Harrison signs with UFC, will debut vs. Holm at UFC 300

Former PFL women's lightweight champion Kayla Harrison has signed with the UFC and will make her debut against Holly Holm, UFC CEO Dana White announced Tuesday.

Holm-Harrison is scheduled to take place at UFC 300 on April 13 in Las Vegas. It'll mark Harrison's first career bout in the bantamweight division.

Harrison (16-1) has spent the majority of her MMA career with the PFL, reaching the women's lightweight final in three consecutive seasons and winning the championship twice.

Harrison recently said she was a free agent when asked about her contract status with the PFL. But PFL founder Donn Davis said last week Harrison had one more fight left on her contract. In the end, though, Davis told MMA reporter Ariel Helwani on Wednesday that the promotion "chose not to stand in her way of leaving for UFC."

A two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo and one of the top grapplers in MMA, Harrison's only blemish is a unanimous decision loss to Larissa Pacheco in the 2022 women's lightweight final. The 33-year-old got back on track last November by defeating Aspen Ladd via unanimous decision. Harrison didn't compete in the PFL season format last year and was expected to have multiple fights in the PFL's pay-per-view Super Fight division.

Harrison will now move down to 135 pounds after fighting at lightweight for her entire PFL tenure (she had one fight at featherweight in Invicta FC in 2020). The new weight class is another hurdle that the former champion is willing to overcome.

"I mean, 135 will challenge me in ways, like I'm going to have to lose a piece of me to be able to fight at 135 pounds," she said last November, according to MMA Fighting's Damon Martin. "I'm going to have to change my entire lifestyle. I mean, I have already done that to fight at 145."

Holm (15-6) is expected to present a serious test for Harrison in her UFC debut. The 42-year-old is a former bantamweight champion and hasn't lost since 2022, when she suffered a split decision defeat to Ketlen Vieira. Her most recent fight was ruled a no-contest after Mayra Bueno Silva's submission win was overturned because of a failed drug test for ADHD medication.

The women's bantamweight bout between Holm and Harrison joins a star-studded card that'll feature Justin Gaethje defending the BMF title against Max Holloway and former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira taking on Arman Tsarukyan.