Kayla Harrison signs a multi-year agreement with the PFL

Kayla Harrison is staying with the PFL.

The league announced Tuesday that Harrison — currently No. 7 in MMA Fighting’s Pound-for-Pound rankings — has re-signed with the PFL on a multi-year contract extension. Ariel Helwani reported that the PFL had accepted a Bellator offer.

Harrison originally signed with the PFL in 2016 when it was still known as the World Series of Fighting. Harrison was allowed to remain on the roster as long as the league does not match other offers.

In her two seasons with the PFL, Harrison — a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo — has amassed an 11-0 record and won lightweight championship tournaments and their accompanying $1 million prizes in 2019 and 2021 (the 2020 season was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19). She also holds a win at featherweight in her lone appearance for Invicta FC.

Harrison said Monday on The MMA Hour that while she initially enjoyed the process of free agency, she was beginning to grow frustrated and worried that “my window of opportunity to fight these girls is slowly closing.”

However, despite potentially missing out the chance to fight Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg or UFC featherweight champion Amanda Nunes, Harrison did not state a preference as to where she was planning to sign.

“I really do just want to be the best,” Harrison said. “I really do have an internal desire to test myself and to push myself to the highest limits I can go. It is my goal to keep going and push myself further. But I am not yet there.

” I don’t consider myself to be the best. I don’t say I’m the greatest. Although I do not consider myself the best, I would like to. I would like to be the best. So obviously from October until now is a long layoff and it feels like a long layoff and it feels like it’s been a lifetime. It’s nearly over, and it feels good. I am ready to go back into the cage and continue learning .”

.

The 2022 PFL season begins in April.