Kayla Harrison Admits She’s ‘Depressed’ Not Taking Part in 2023 PFL Season

Not all that long ago, Kayla
Harrison seemed ready to
leave the grind of the Professional Fighters League season
format in the rearview mirror at the conclusion of the 2022
campaign.

It appears that sentiment has changed.

Harrison revealed on “The
MMA Hour” that she hoped to take part in the PFL’s 2023 season
format. The two-time Olympic gold medalist won two PFL
championships at 155 pounds before being upset by Larissa
Pacheco in the 2022 final. It was Harrison’s first defeat in 16
professional MMA bouts.

“I wanted to be in the season,” Harrison said. “Of course I wanted
to be in the season. The second the tournament was over, the second
I lost, I wrote down my goals. I was like: ‘145-pound champ. Going
to be in the season. Avenge my loss.’ I had all my key areas of
focus, and that’s not in the cards for me. That’s not what they
want to do. They want me to fight on the pay-per-view.

Harrison added that she has two fights remaining on her current PFL
contract, which may have contributed to her being left out of the
current season.

“I don’t know. I think I get paid a lot of money. I think that they
feel like (the season format) is not the best way to utilize me. I
think they want to put me on a pay-per-view card against a big
name.”

The PFL will debut the women’s featherweight division on Friday
with a card headlined by Pacheco vs. Julia Budd.
Harrison, meanwhile, is left to await word on the league’s plans
for its pay-per-view division.

“I’ve been a little bit depressed about it,” Harrison said. “It’s
hard to watch something you helped build. No matter how awakened
and peaceful I am, the world is still moving forward and I’m
sitting right here. Sometimes that’s hard. I want to fight, I don’t
just want to talk about fighting. I want to fight, so it’s
frustrating.”