Women take center cage. ATT Kayla Harrison, WWE alum Lilian Garcia talk PFL championships.
Women are making great strides in combat style sports — notably boxing, judo, wrestling (amateur and pro) and MMA.
The fans are into it, and the women are delivering.
Two of those women -- Kayla Harrison and Lilian Garcia -- are in the Professional Fighters League, an MMA company with a unique concept. PFL conducts a regular season for fighters with a point system, followed by playoffs leading to the championships in women and men’s divisions.
Harrison, representing American Top Team in (South Florida) Coconut Creek, is in the main event of the PFL Championships on New Year’s Eve on ESPN 2, and ring announcing that historic bout along with other PFL finals that night is Garcia, a WWE alum.
Garcia is the first female MMA ring announcer for a major American MMA brand.
In my audio interview with Garcia, she discusses the big PFL event, ring announcing, MMA, women main eventing in combat sports, Kayla Harrison, Ronda Rousey, WWE, Times Square and more.
Working for PFL throughout this season, Garcia is looking forward to introducing the entire card but especially Harrison versus Larissa Pacheco in that main event to crown the first PFL women’s lightweight champ. Another benchmark for women in that fighting discipline.
Also, each championship fight winner on the card earns $1 million.
Judo star, MMA star, with another win and her first title could Kayla Harrison be on her way to becoming the next Ronda Rousey? She trained in judo with Rousey, and she respects Rousey, but Harrison wants to be the first Kayla Harrison, baddest woman on the planet.
Her American Top Team teammate Amanda The Lioness Nunes, the first two-division UFC women’s champ (bantamweight and featherweight), currently owns that moniker.
About PFL Championship Fight Night
The 2019 Professional Fighters League Championships occur in the media capital of the world, New York City.
Six championship bouts are scheduled to end the 2019 season, which is Season 2 of PFL.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison will be competing in the main event for the first PFL Women’s Lightweight Championship on Tuesday, Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve) live at 7 p.m. ET from the Hulu Theater at the famous Madison Square Garden on ESPN 2.
In my audio interview with Harrison, she discusses PFL, main eventing the card, New Year’s Eve, history making, American Top Team, family, Christmas, her foundation, Times Square and more.
Harrison (6-0), the No.2 seed in the women’s lightweight playoffs, looks to take the next step in her mission to become the greatest MMA fighter on the planet. To earn her first belt, remain undefeated and win $1 million, she’ll have to beat the only woman to take her a full three rounds inside the cage - the 25-year-old Larissa Pacheco (13-3) of Belem Para, Brazil.
The money is nice, but for Harrison it’s about being the best, and this is a solid step in her young MMA career toward that goal.
For more Professional Fighters League info, visit https://www.pflmma.com/
About Kayla Harrison
Harrison, 29, is the most highly-anticipated addition to women’s MMA since her former judo training partner, Ronda Rousey, took center stage in the sport.
At the 2012 London Games, Harrison became the first U.S. athlete (man or woman) to win Olympic gold in judo. She then successfully defended her Olympic title four years later in Rio.
Residing in Coconut Creek, Harrison is off to a perfect 6-0 start in her young MMA career.
She said in a release, “I don’t just want to be a judo player locked in a cage. I want to be the best MMA fighter in the world.”
More about Harrison
Originally from Middletown, Ohio, she trains at the award-winning American Top Team in (South Florida) Coconut Creek.
In judo, she worked out via standout judokan and coach Jimmy Pedro in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
Away from the mat and cage, she twice appeared on the hit TV show “Impractical Jokers” on truTV.
Dealing with the highs and lows of life, Harrison authored a book “Fighting Back,” telling her story of child sexual abuse by her coach to help others recognize and prevent child sexual abuse. She also guides the Fearless Foundation to shine a light on the darkness that is child sexual abuse and to enrich the lives of survivors through education and sport, thus leading them to mastery and enabling them to flourish in all aspects of life.
For more info on Harrison and the foundation, visit https://www.kaylaharrison.com/.
About Lilian Garcia
Garcia worked full-time as a ring announcer for WWE from 1999-2008 and 2011-16. She is very good at her craft, respected and well-liked by talent, her peers, management and fans.
A graduate, cum laude, from the University of South Carolina, she is also a recording artist, singing in English and Spanish, and she hosts a successful podcast Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia on PodcastOne.
She joined the Professional Fighters League team, her first foray in MMA, in May.
PFL, Kayla Harrison and Lilian Garcia on Social Media
PFL Twitter - https://twitter.com/profightleague
PFL Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profightleague
PFL Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pflmma/
Kayla’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/KaylaH
Lilian’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/LilianGarcia
My Fighting Content on the Web and Social Media
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fighting/
Twitter: @jimmyv3
YouTube: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProWrestlingSouthFlorida/
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