Kayla Harrison’s Next Fight After UFC 334: Ronda Rousey & Valentina Shevchenko Are The Only Opti
On Saturday night, Kayla Harrison placed herself among the immortals in women’s mixed martial arts history. Long before she ever entered the UFC’s Octagon, the American was seen as one of the most gifted combat athletes of all time after winning a pair of Judo Olympic Gold Medals and a dominant 15-1 run as the face of the PFL.
However, for many fans, she needed to prove it inside the Octagon to really be considered one of the baddest female fighters ever. Well, after four fights in the promotion, it is hard to deny her place among the all-time greats. Harrison is 4-0 in the UFC, is the current bantamweight champion, and has a pair of wins over former champions.
Yet, her win in the UFC 334 co-main event stamped her place in history. Not only did she beat the greatest women’s UFC fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes, but she submitted her.
Has the 36-year-old passed Nunes as the greatest female UFC fighter of all time? Of course not. But she can be in the conversation depending on who she faces next, if she chooses to continue to compete. That is why destiny matchups with Valentina Shevchenko or Ronda Rousey are the only options.
Why Kayla Harrison vs. Valentina Shevchenko should be next
Shevchenko relinquished her bantamweight title in September due to an injury. She is now expected to face the new champion, Natalia Silva, at some point in 2027. Is that a fun fight? Of course. The Brazilian is a talented fighter. Is it box office? Absolutely not.
There really is nothing else for Shevchenko to prove at flyweight, and at 38 years old, she is very close to the end of her career. In what has been a fantastic run in MMA, there really is only one mountain the native of Kyrgyzstan needs to climb, and that is winning a title in a second division. It is why a fight with Harrison makes the most sense next.
Shevchenko would offer serious challenges for the champ because of her world-class striking, speed advantages, and underrated grappling. However, Nunes found out on Saturday that Harrison brings a level of grappling that is a very hard puzzle to solve.
Harrison vs. Shevchenko is the biggest women’s fight the UFC can make now. For the champ, the matchup offers a challenge, a clear route to victory, and an opportunity to do something no one else ever has: Owning wins over the two greatest female fighters ever.
Why Kayla Harrison vs. Ronda Rousey should be next
The fight MMA fans have dreamt about for years is a matchup between Harrison and Rousey, the biggest star in women’s fight sports history. However, a fight never seemed realistic. The former was competing for years at 155 pounds in the PFL, and the latter had walked away from the sport a decade ago.
However, the door was opened up this year when Rousey made her unexpected return to face fellow legend Gina Carano at MVP MMA’s first event. Furthermore, Harrison now competes at Rousey’s long-time weight class. Nevertheless, a scrap still seemed unlikely. That is, until Saturday night. Following her win, the bantamweight queen actually suggested she would be open to fighting Rousey next.
Rousey was originally going to face Carano in the UFC before the deal fell apart. She has a close bond with CEO Dana White, and the chance to be the champ one last time, then retire, would be appealing to any elite athlete.
The chances are slim but not out of the question, and there is no doubt that a clash between the two Olympic medal-winning judokas turned UFC stars would be one of the biggest fights of the last decade — for either gender.
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