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American judoka and mixed martial artist Kayla Harrison demolished MMA veteran Cindy Dandois in a first-round armbar submission win at PFL 6. With this victory, Harrison cemented her position as the number two seed for the PFL's upcoming women's lightweight playoffs.
Kayla Harrison gave Cindy Dandois no scope to fight back as she went all guns blazing from the opening bell. With only 16 seconds remaining in the first round, Harrison went for the winning armbar from a full-mount position and got Cindy Dandois to tap out.
As has often been the case, MMA Twitter exploded after Kayla Harrison's dominant win, comparing her to UFC Hall-of-Famer and women's MMA trailblazer Ronda Rousey. While some said Kayla Harrison was just as good as Ronda Rousey, others claimed that the former is better.
What gives more fuel to the comparisons is the armbar submission Kayla Harrison used to finish Cindy Dandois, which used to be Ronda Rousey's finisher as well. Rousey scored most of her career wins using the armbar hold, including the victories over Cat Zingano, Miesha Tate, Liz Carmouche, Julia Budd, and Sarah Kaufman.
In a 2019 ESPN interview, Kayla Harrison said that the difference between her and Ronda Rousey was that 'Rowdy' never wanted to fight Cris Cyborg, while Harrison is eager for the challenge.
Ali Abdelaziz: Kayla Harrison is Ronda Rousey 6.0
In an interview with TMZ Sports ahead of Kayla Harrison's PFL 6 bout, her manager Ali Abdelaziz stated that she not only outclasses Ronda Rousey but is miles ahead of her contemporary boxer-turned-MMA fighter, Claressa Shields.
"It's kind of disrespectful when people bring Claressa Shields in the same sentence as Kayla [Harrison], because, listen, she's a boxer. She's a great boxer, probably a future Hall-of-Famer, but when it comes to her MMA skills, she's an amateur. She's got a lot of work to do. Of course, she's a fighter, lot of heart. But you can't even mention them in the same sentence... I truly believe today, Kayla Harrison is the baddest woman in any room. No disrespect to nobody. There's a lot of great women out there, they're amazing. But I think she's a different breed, and she's everything that Ronda Rousey was supposed to be. She's Ronda Rousey 6.0," Ali Abdelaziz said.
Answering if there is any possibility of Kayla Harrison fighting Amanda Nunes once she becomes a free agent, Ali Abdelaziz said:
"Listen, if somebody write a check for eight-figure, we can make this fight happen tomorrow, right? But in reality, Kayla is a PFL fighter. They're being great to her. She's gonna go ahead and run through everyone this year... Kayla, she can smash anyone in the world today."
Watch the full video below:
Kayla Harrison is the winner of the 2010 World Judo Championships, gold medallist at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games as well as 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games. She has a 6th-degree black belt in Judo and currently trains with American Top Team.
Making her debut at PFL 2 in June 2018, Kayla Harrison has gone on to amass an undefeated MMA record under the promotion.
