UFC 300: Kayla Harrison signs ahead of bantamweight clash with former champion Holly Holm in Las Vegas

Dana White has announced two-time Olympic gold medallist Kayla Harrison has signed for the UFC ahead of a fight with former champion Holly Holm.

The decorated judo star won Olympic gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, and is now preparing to make her UFC debut.

She will fight Holm in the bantamweight division at UFC 300 in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 13, live on TNT Sports.

“Another announcement for UFC 300,” White said in a video on social media.

“Holly Holm, she was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022. In the history of the women’s [UFC] bantamweight division, she is tied for fourth most wins, sixth most significant strikes landed and has the fourth-best takedown defence at 78%.

“Holly Holm is one of the baddest women to ever compete in combat sports, ever. She’s fought all the nastiest women in the world in boxing and in MMA, except for one.

“Holly will be taking on the only person in US history to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in judo.

“The UFC has officially signed Kayla Harrison. Kayla is 16-1 with 12 finishes, her takedowns, her ground and pounds are nasty.

“This will be the first time she will be competing at bantamweight.”

Holm, 42, was last in action when she fought Mayra Bueno Silva in July at UFC Fight Night.

Silva had her second-round submission victory overturned to a no-contest after testing positive for ritalinic acid in a pre-fight drug test.

In 2015, Holm beat the then-undefeated UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to claim the bantamweight belt.

As for Harrison, she has spent the entirety of her MMA career with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) but recently became a free agent.

The 33-year-old has an impressive MMA record with 16 victories and one loss, which came in 2022 when she suffered a shock defeat to Larissa Pacheco.

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