Kayla Harrison to face Julia Budd in PFL regular season finale
Harrison takes on her most high-profile opponent to date.
Kayla Harrison’s next PFL fight is set.
The two-time Olympic judo gold medalist will take on former Bellator women’s featherweight champion Julia Budd in the promotion’s 2022 regular season finale on July 1st in Atlanta, Georgia.
Harrison (13-0) has twice won the PFL women’s lightweight tournament, and she’s heavily favored to make it a three-peat. She got off to her usual dominant start in her regular season opener, a shutout decision over Marina Mokhnatkina. It’s only her third win on the scorecards, with Larissa Pacheco twice going the distance with Harrison but obviously clearly losing.
Budd (16-4) began her career in Strikeforce, then made her way to Invicta FC, but she really broke through in Bellator. The Canadian stopped Marloes Coenen in 2017 to become Bellator’s inaugural women’s featherweight champion. She defended the belt successfully three more times before losing by TKO to Cris Cyborg. Budd debuted in PFL in 2021, defeating Kaitlin Young by decision in her first lightweight fight. She is in must-win mode after losing to Genah Fabian, who missed weight and thus lost a point and Budd was given 3 points.
The women’s lightweight and welterweight divisions will take center stage before the top fighters across six weight divisions head for the postseason in August. Ex-UFC title challenger and former Bellator champion Rory MacDonald goes up against Sadibou Sy in the welterweight co-feature.
Here’s the full PFL 6 card:
Main Card (ESPN, 8 PM ET)
Kayla Harrison vs. Julia Budd
Rory MacDonald vs. Sadibou Sy
Ray Cooper III vs. Brett Cooper
Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Joao Zeferino
Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 5 PM ET)
Jarrah Al Silawi vs. Magomed Umalatov
Larissa Pacheco vs. Genah Fabian
Nikolai Aleksakhin vs. Gleison Tibau
Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Abigail Montes
Martina Jindrova vs. Zamzagul Fayzallanova
Olena Kolesnyk vs. Vanessa Melo