MIAMI – If you think Kayla Harrison vs. Cris Cyborg would be a marquee fight for women’s MMA, Ali Abdelaziz is here to pour cold water on your excitement.
A fight between Harrison (13-0), a two-time PFL champion, and reigning Bellator women’s featherweight titleholder Cyborg (26-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) would be a legacy-defining contest for both women, as they continue to dominate the competition in their respective organizations.
There’s been talk about PFL and Bellator working together for a cross promotion to make the matchup happen, but according to Bellator president Scott Coker, the conversations have never gotten beyond comments in interviews and on social media. Cyborg is set to become a free agent in July, though, and it seems PFL will at least have an opportunity to court her services and make a superfight happen.
Harrison’s manager, Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA, isn’t all that optimistic. In fact, he doesn’t even think Harrison vs. Cyborg is an appealing fight.
“At the end of the day, listen, everyone is using Kayla’s name to promote themselves,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “I have no interest in this fight. Kayla will fight anybody. I don’t care about promoters, managers, reporters. They all talk about Kayla and Cyborg. Listen, at the end of the day, I don’t really care about this fight. This fight will probably never happen. And even if this fight happens, nobody gives a sh*t. That’s my opinion. Because Kayla’s Kayla. She’s undefeated. She’s the best female fighter in the world, and in my opinion a pound-for-pound great right now. She doesn’t need to prove anything to anybody. Cyborg needs her. She doesn’t need Cyborg. She’s making six figures, seven figures every fight. She’s happy. She’s going to beat whoever they give her.”
Harrison, 31, is currently locked into the 2022 PFL season attempting to win her third consecutive title in the women’s lightweight division. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo was recently a free agent herself and attempted to join Bellator, but PFL ultimately had matching rights for any contract offers, and it exercised those to bring her back.
Although Harrison, No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s pound-for-pound rankings, appears to be leaps and bounds ahead of her competition on the current PFL roster, Abdelaziz sees no reason to change course. He said he’ll welcome any big fights that PFL can set up for Harrison but questions the level of interest in No. 3 Cyborg, 36, and whether the fight would move the needle on pay-per-view.
“If you talk about maybe one day Amanda Nunes or something like that, yeah, Amanda Nunes is interesting. Let’s do it,” Abdelaziz said. “But I don’t really care about Cyborg. I don’t think people will buy this fight.
“Anybody can come. They’re going to get their ass whooped regardless. It can be Amanda, Cyborg. Anybody. Julianna (Peña). Anybody can get it. They can all get it. Just don’t use Kayla’s name to promote your brand.”
‘Nobody gives a sh*t’: Kayla Harrison’s manager doesn’t find Cris Cyborg showdown appealing
