Kayla Harrison made her long-awaited debut for Invicta FC, and her first fight in the Featherweight division, at Invicta FC 43. She seemingly showed no signs whatsoever of being diminished due to the bigger weight-cut after competing for her entire seven-fight career so far at Lightweight and winning both of her Olympic gold medals in Judo at 78kg. Harrison took on Colorado’s Courtney King, who came into the fight with a decent 4-1 record and a three-fight winning streak.
Unfortunately for King, she was unable to extend her winning form against one of the best female grapplers on the planet. The two women were relatively evenly matched on the feet to begin with and King even managed to defend the first takedown attempt well, before eventually succumbing to the second. Once the fight hit the floor, the skill difference was blatantly clear as Harrison rained down shots from inside her opponent’s closed guard. The heavy ground and pound then opened up the opportunity for her to pass to half-guard, then mount, and then take the back all within a short space of time.
From there, Harrison attempted an armbar but King managed to stack her and survive until the end of the round. In the second round, the same story replayed itself as Harrison took King down and punished her from inside closed guard before the referee stood the pair up. Within seconds the same thing happened again, but Harrison passed to half-guard this time and quickly into side control. Harrison was landing heavy punches and elbows as she switched to mount, and back to side control, before the referee called an end to the fight with twelve seconds left in the second round.
Kayla Harrison left her opponent bloody and battered after her promotional debut and set up what will no doubt be a quick rise to an Invicta FC title-shot and hopefully, a ticket to the big-time in the UFC.
The aftermath! #InvictaFC43 pic.twitter.com/VZWMcV7XTy
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 21, 2020
