Kayla Harrison will headline the final event of the 2022 PFL regular season against her biggest test to date.
Harrison, a two-time PFL lightweight champion, meets former Bellator featherweight champion Julia Budd in a lightweight bout on July 1 at 2022 PFL 6, promotion officials announced Wednesday. The event takes place at OTE Arena in Atlanta and will air live on ESPN and stream on ESPN +.
To kick off her 2022 campaign, Harrison (13-0) defeated Marina Mokhnatkina by unanimous decision at PFL 3. Harrison was critical of her performance despite winning with relative ease. Budd (16-4), who defeated Kaitlin Young in her promotional debut last October, fell short against Genah Fabian at PFL 3 in a fight that Fabian missed weight by 4.8 pounds.
At least on paper, the matchup is intriguing as Budd is easily Harrison’s most credentialed opponent, who’s shared the cage with Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, and Germaine de Randamie.
In the co-main event, ex-Bellator champ and former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald (23-8-1) will face Sweden’s Sadibou Sy (10-6-2). MacDonald earned six points when he submitted Brett Cooper at PFL 3, whereas Sy edged out Nikolay Aleksakhin on the same night.
Here’s the full 2022 PFL 6 lineup:
MAIN CARD (ESPN, ESPN+ 8 p.m. ET)
- Kayla Harrison vs. Julia Budd
- Rory MacDonald vs. Sadibou Sy
- Ray Cooper III vs. Brett Cooper
- Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+ 5 p.m. ET)
- Jarrah Al-Silawi vs. Magomed Umalatov
- Larissa Pacheco vs. Genah Fabian
- Nikolay Aleksakhin vs. Gleison Tibau
- Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Abigail Montes
- Martina Jindrova vs. Zamzagul Fayzallanova
- Olena Kolesnyk vs. Vanessa Melo
