When ex-female champ Kayla Harrison revisited having an 'embarrassing' encounter with Dana White
The self proclaimed 'queen of women's MMA' Kayla Harrison had an awkward interaction with Dana White back in the day. The Olympian judoka was yet to make the switch to MMA when White visited Boston for a UFC card.
The meeting was set up by Harrison's friend who owned the restuarant that the UFC president visited. Harrison walked in on White having dinner with a group of people in a closed restuarant.
Her friend started railing off about how he would one day make it to the UFC, much to the embarrassment of Harrison. The former PFL lightweight champ previously said on the Punchin' In podcast:
"It's just Dana with a room full of people. They are having dinner, like they are in the middle of their meal and we walk in. And the guy I’m with is like, ‘Oh, this is Kayla Harrison! You gotta meet her! She’s gonna fight for you someday! She’s the best thing!’ And da-da-da-da-da. And then he’s like, ‘Oh, and this guy fights for you, too, already!’ and da-da-da-da-da. And I had to go around."
She added:
"And I literally shook every person’s hand at the table. And the guy was like, ‘Oh, cool.’ Dana was like, ‘Nice to meet you.’ You could tell he was like, ‘Why is this happening in the middle of my meal?’ And I was so embarrassed. I wanted to be like, ‘This wasn’t my idea! Don’t judge me!’"
Catch Kayla Harrison's comments below:
Kayla Harrison open to a Bellator move to take on former UFC champ Cris Cyborg
Kayla Harrison suffered her first professional loss against Larissa Pacheco in the PFL women's lightweight tournament final in November, 2022. While she had expressed interest in entering the women's featherweight tournment this year, the PFL seemingly didn't allow it.
#PFLWORLDCHAMPIONSHIPLARISSA PACHECO UPSETS KAYLA HARRISON 😮 #PFLWORLDCHAMPIONSHIP https://t.co/oYzZ9dOkdZ
Harrison is now plotting a matchup against former UFC champ Cris Cyborg, who recently renewed her contract with Bellator. She opened the doors to a Bellator move after the expiry of her PFL contract in December.
The 32-year-old recently told MMA Junkie:
"My contract’s up in December. Bellator knows where I’m at, and I would love to make that fight happen. I’m not talking sh*t anymore. I just want to fight her [Cyborg]. That’s it. I want to fight the best. I want to test myself. want to continue to grow as a human being and a fighter, and I think that she is a person who can push me to the next level."