"Kayla smashes another poor girl"- Ben Askren calls for better competition for Kayla Harrison

Kayla Harrison (L) and Ben Askren (R) [Images Courtesy: Getty]

Ben Askren wants to see Kayla Harrison being pitted against a higher level of competition.

PFL 9 went down on Saturday, August 20, and emanated from the Copper Box Arena in London, England. Askren tuned in live from the comfort of his home and offered up his thoughts on Harrison's main event bout as the 2022 Playoffs closed out before the Championships take place in November.

When discussing the top of the marquee lightweight bout for Professional Fighters League, Askren said:

"And Kayla Harrison smashes another poor girl. Would be nice to see her in a competitive bout, but I don't know anyone in that class that can compete with her and UFC doesnt sponsor that weight class......."

Expounding upon the initial thought in a subsequent quote tweet, Askren said:

"Cyborg is a possibility but is smaller and is getting older now. Nunes is her teammate and smaller so that prob wont happen."

See the tweets below

And Kayla Harrison smashes another poor girl. Would be nice to see her in a competitive bout, but I don't know anyone in that class that can compete with her and UFC doesnt sponsor that weight class.......

Cyborg is a possibility but is smaller and is getting older now. Nunes is her teammate and smaller so that prob wont happen. twitter.com/Benaskren/stat…

The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo is presently a two-time mixed martial arts world champion and is vying for yet another in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Kayla Harrison's 2022 PFL run

In this year's campaign, Harrison kicked things off by besting Marina Mokhnatkina via unanimous decision at PFL 3 in May. Kayla Harrison then defeated Kaitlin Young by way of first-round TKO at PFL 6 on July 1. Harrison is fresh off an arm triangle submission victory over Martina Jindrova earlier today and is fired up for the finals.

Watch her post-fight promo below:

As Harrison attempts to claim her third PFL lightweight title, she will also clash with a familiar foe for the third time. Larissa Pacheco fought Harrison twice in the 2019 PFL season and looks set to meet her for a third fight. The Brazilian scored another first-round knockout, this time over Olena Kolesnyk, to punch her ticket to the tournament finals.

Harrison vs. Pacheco 1 marked the first fight of the 2019 campaign for both warriors. The former emerged victorious via unanimous decision in their PFL 1 showdown in May of that year.

The sequel to Harrison versus Pacheco saw another unanimous decision verdict, with Harrison going 2-0 in the series in the New Year's Eve tournament championship PFL finals for 2019.