Kayla Harrison

Kayla Jean Harrison (born July 2, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former judoka. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. She is the first female fighter to win an Olympic gold medal and a UFC championship. She is also a former two-time Professional Fighters League lightweight champion. As of November 18, 2025, she is #2 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings. In judo, Harrison won the women’s 78 kg gold medal in the 2010 World Judo Championships and gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. She remains the only American judoka to have won a gold medal in Judo at the Summer Olympics and one of a rare few to have won a gold medal in the World Judo Championships. In 2016, she was promoted to Rokudan (6th-degree black belt) by the United States Judo Association, becoming the youngest ever to achieve the rank. After making her MMA debut in 2018, Harrison won the PFL Lightweight World Tournament in 2019 and successfully repeated as champion in 2021. She signed with the UFC in January 2024, defeating former champion Holly Holm in her promotional debut. In June 2025, she captured the UFC Bantamweight Championship via second-round kimura submission of Julianna Peña. Harrison was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame in 2012, the United States Judo Federation Hall of Fame in 2015, and the International Sports Hall of Fame in March 2023.