If there’s anyone out there capable of beating Kayla Harrison at 155 pounds, we haven’t heard from them yet.
Harrison, the two-time Olympic judo gold medalist, hasn’t been fighting all that long, but it’s already clear she’s the world’s best women’s lightweight. That’s in part due to the fact we really don’t have enough high-level 155-pounders competing to flesh out a full division. Heck, if we’re being fully honest, sometimes we’re stretching things a bit just to come up with a full slate of 145-pound competitors.
But with her convincing victory on New Year’s Eve over Larissa Pacheco at the PFL Championship in New York, it’s become just as clear the time has come to consider her spot in the overall women’s pound-for-pound list.
Harrison is 7-0 now. She’s steamrolled most of her opponents. Even when she hasn’t, no one has come close to stopping her. And while it’s too soon to put Harrison up there with the Amanda Nuneses of the world, she’s plainly earned a spot among the pound-for-pound bests.
With that, Harrison, who had previously been listed in our honorable mentions, makes her top 15 debut at No. 14.
We’ve got one more slow weekend before things kick back into high gear. In the meantime, if you want a refresher course on where your favorite — or least favorite — fighter stands, check out the new edition of the rankings above.
