Kayla Harrison reiterated that she has offers on the table to sign a mixed martial arts contract, with interest from at least three “big” promotion companies in an interview Monday.
Harrison repeated as an Olympic judo champion in Rio and is all but retired from that sport at age 26.
She has been asked time and again for years about her interest in pursuing MMA, in part because of former training partner Ronda Rousey‘s overwhelming success after she switched from Olympic judo.
Harrison has always in recent months not committed to MMA but left the door open if the opportunity was right. She did so again Monday when asked if she saw herself ever fighting in the cage.
“I can’t answer that right now, I just don’t know,” Harrison said on the MMA Hour Live. “I miss competing ... but I don’t know if I’m going to find that in MMA or if I’m going to find that in another avenue.”
Harrison also repeated that she has taken boxing and jiu-jitsu lessons, which she has done since at least 2013.
“We’re on Kayla time right now,” Harrison said. “It’s a really, really big decision. So I’m taking my time, and I’m talking to everybody that I care about, and I’m getting everybody’s opinion. At the end of the day, I’ve got to go with what my heart and my gut tell me.”
If Harrison competes in MMA, it would likely be in the 145-pound division, which would require a weight cut from her Olympic judo weight class of 172 pounds.
“I’m interested in MMA in an aspect where competitors are treated as competitors and not as celebrities or as showmen,” Harrison said, while emphasizing her admiration for Rousey. “I’m not interested in being a talker or someone who is all about the show.”
