Kayla Harrison's Invicta debut ends with opponent covered in blood
We’re going to start this article with a warning. In case it wasn’t obvious from the headline, stop reading if you have a problem with blood.
OK, good? Moving on.
Kayla Harrison, one of the most exciting fighters currently rising through the MMA ranks, made her debut with Invicta on Friday in a main event bout against Courtney King.
The fight, Harrison’s first in 11 months, was basically over long before the ref called it. Over the course of about five minutes and change, Harrison landed blow after blow on King in a one-sided matchup.
By the end of the fight, the mat was covered in blood, courtesy of a gushing wound on King’s face.
Warning, the following tweets contain graphic images.
Kayla Harrison just beat Courtney King into a bloody mess. Opened up a nasty cut on the bridge of her nose midway through the first and the mauling just continued. pic.twitter.com/3J7Cmhui7o
— Will (@ChillemDafoe) November 21, 2020
The blood on King’s face, from a cut opened by repeated elbows as Harrison dominated King on the ground, ended up looking like something out of a horror movie.
This is the face of the woman who is fighting Kayla Harrison right now, Courtney King. pic.twitter.com/AxduqZ7hYv
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 21, 2020
Kayla Harrison’s MMA career is going well
Reducing her opponent to a bloody pulp is just another chapter in Harrison’s rise. Harrison, now 8-0, remains the only American to win an Olympic gold medal in judo and been consistently dominant since switching to MMA in 2018.
While Harrison usually competes in the PFL, the promotion postponed its season due to the coronavirus pandemic and allowed her to fight in the all-women Invicta. Friday’s bout was also notable because it was Harrison’s debut at featherweight, the weight class she will likely have to compete in if she wants to join the UFC.
If her performance against King is any judge, the switch was little trouble for Harrison.
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