PFL CEO 'disappointed' Cyborg-Harrison won't happen

PFL CEO Peter Murray is disheartened that a fight between Cris Cyborg and Kayla Harrison appears to be off the table.

Harrison signed a deal with the UFC on Tuesday following a six-year run in the PFL, which all but guarantees that a matchup against Cyborg won't materialize.

"We're disappointed that the fight between Cyborg and Kayla did not happen," Murray told reporters Wednesday. "Kayla chose not to make it happen and to move on to her next chapter."

He added: "We had the fight that matters the most. The biggest fight in women's MMA. Ultimately, Kayla made a decision to move on. We wanted to make that fight."

Murray declined to elaborate on the details surrounding Harrison's departure. He said the PFL will focus on booking a fight between Cyborg, the reigning Bellator women's featherweight champion, and 2023 PFL featherweight champ Larissa Pacheco.

Harrison, a two-time PFL women's lightweight champion, teased that she would become a free agent following a fight against Aspen Ladd last November. But PFL chairman Donn Davis said last week Harrison still had one fight left on her contract. Davis then told MMA reporter Ariel Helwani on Wednesday that the promotion ultimately "chose not to stand in her way of leaving for UFC."

Cyborg and Harrison are two of the best women's fighters in the world, and a bout between the two of them has been talked about for years. But it only became a viable matchup after the PFL acquired Bellator in late 2023, as Harrison had been under contract with the PFL and Cyborg had been under contract with Bellator.

Harrison, who defeated Ladd in her only appearance last year, is scheduled to make her UFC debut against former bantamweight champion Holly Holm at UFC 300 on April 13.