Ali Abdelaziz boasts about Kayla Harrison's UFC star potential: 'We have a Ronda Rousey on steroids'
Ali Abdelaziz sees UFC 300 as a big breakout moment for Kayla Harrison.
Two-time PFL lightweight champion Harrison (16-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes her octagon debut Saturday in a bantamweight bout against Holly Holm (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC 300 will also mark Harrison’s 135-pound debut, but her manager, Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA, assures she’ll have no issues on the scale.
“That’s the best thing overall for her life as an individual,” Abdelaziz told Kevin Iole of Harrison dropping to bantamweight. “Losing all this extra weight, feeling good about yourself, looking great. She looks like amazing and healthier, right? She’s close to weight, she’s not far from it, she has a lot of muscles, and people who lose weight, water inside the muscle, people who are muscular, it’s a lot easier to lose weight than people who have fat.
“She’s got a great team around her, Mike Brown, (Eric) Pena, a lot of other people. Everybody, don’t worry about her weight. Everybody using her weight as excuse to not fight her or not going to fight if she miss weight or whatever. At the end of the day, she’s a two-time Olympic champion, two-time PFL champion, never missed weight, made 145 during COVID in her room, you know what I’m saying?”
Abdelaziz sees Harrison jumping the line and earning a UFC title shot with a win over Holm. He also sees her career taking off to massive heights.
“She will make weight. And, listen, at the end of the day, just tune in,” Abdelaziz said. “She will be one of the biggest stars. She does what she has to do against Holly Holm. She’s very tough, very seasonal. She’ll go there and smash her. She’ll get a title shot, become a UFC champion. We have a Ronda Rousey on steroids. This is what we have.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.