How Much Is UFC’s Kayla Harrison’s Walk-Around Weight? How Many Pounds Does She Cut?

Former two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison will step inside the Octagon for the first time at UFC 300. The Middletown native will butt heads with former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm in a highly anticipated matchup. However, she sports a bigger physique than most bantamweight, leading fans to wonder at what weight Harrison walks around, and we are here to take a deeper look at that front.

Kayla Harrison has fought most of her career as a 155-pounder, and hence it will be the first time for her to cut down to 135 pounds for her UFC debut. Regarding her walk-around weight, it’s not what people think as Harrison cleared the air regarding her weight during an interview.

Kayla Harrison walks around at 160 pounds

During an interview a couple of months ago with Kevin Iole, Kayla Harrison mentioned that 160-165 pounds was the weight at which she walked around. She also claimed to be a much smaller fighter as a lightweight during her time in the PFL and often fought bigger women inside the Smart Cage.

Harrison stated, “The whole time I was [in the PFL], I walked around at 165, maybe 160 and so not only was I usually the smaller fighter with less experience, I was getting in the cage with girls who were getting in there at 180, 175 pounds.” Because the 33-year-old fought much bigger athletes, people tend to think that she walks around at 180 lbs.

However, that’s not the case. 160-165 lbs has always been her weight because the former Olympic gold medalist is not a fan of cutting weight. “There’s a misperception out there that I walk around at like 180 pounds or something. I have walked around most of my MMA career at 165, 160 because I don’t like cutting weight,” Harrison added.

Now that she’s in the UFC, she will have to fight in a much smaller weight class, which begs the question of how much she will have to cut down for her upcoming fight. Let’s have a look at that front.

How much weight cut will Harrison have to go through?

As we mentioned earlier, Kayla Harrison is not a fan of weight cuts. She believes that weight cutting is not appropriate and that children should be encouraged to adopt such habits. Nonetheless, she understands that people have to do what people have to do to fulfill their goals. Harrison further stated, “I don’t believe in cutting weight. I don’t think it sends the right message to kids. That being said, I don’t agree with this but sometimes you have to show up and do things you don’t agree with in order to make your dreams come true.”

Kayla Harrison’s weight cut during her time in the PFL as a lightweight was not that challenging. She had to cut 5-10 pounds every time. However, the bantamweight limit in the UFC stands at 135 pounds. As mentioned on the UFC’s website, fighters can weigh in one pound over the limit for non-title fights but have to weigh exactly like the prescribed limit if they fight for a championship. As such, we can safely assume that Harrison will have to cut down 24-30 pounds to at least keep her weight at 136 lbs.

UFC 300 will be an enormous opportunity for Kayla Harrison because she will get to showcase her skills against former champion Holly Holm in the most important UFC PPV of all time. Will she be able to edge past ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’? We will find that out this weekend in Las Vegas.

Read More: Kayla Harrison’s Career Earnings: How Much Did the UFC Star Earn at PFL?