Henry Cejudo is confident Kayla Harrison makes bantamweight but wonders how it will impact her.
Harrison (16-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes her bantamweight debut against former UFC champ Holly Holm (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) at UFC 300 on April 13 in Las Vegas.
Harrison has never competed at 135 pounds, but UFC CEO Dana White assured that the two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka has already undergone multiple test cuts.
“Does she have the time to make it? One hundred percent,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “But will she recover? That’s the biggest question.”
Holm recently said she likely won’t fight two-time PFL lightweight champion Harrison if she misses weight, and Cejudo doesn’t blame her.
“She needs to make the weight if she wants to compete, and if she doesn’t make the weight, it seems like Holly Holm wouldn’t fight her,” Cejudo said. “Is Holly Holm wrong? No. Kayla Harrison has won her championships at a higher division.
“They (PFL) had a division for her… Holly Holm is not wrong. Could a girl like Kayla Harrison make 135 pounds? And it’s not just about making it, guys. It’s about competing. Could she make it? 100 percent. Does she have enough water and enough fat – she has a lot of muscle and muscle is water.”
Due to their judo backgrounds, the matchup against Harrison has instantly drawn comparisons to the one against Ronda Rousey, who Holm knocked out in November 2015 to claim the UFC bantamweight title.
“Stylistically, Holly Holm has fought everybody, but why don’t we take it back to her fighting Ronda Rousey, a judoka, someone who knows that particular area of just getting people to the ground, using your hips… look what Holly Holm was able to do,” Cejudo said.
“If the judo of Kayla Harrison doesn’t work against Holly Holm, how do you think this fight is going to end up? Could this be Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm part two? Because I tell you right now, the winner of this fight is going to be guaranteed the next title shot.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.
