Kayla Harrison Biography: Two-Time Olympic Judo Champion Turned UFC Champion

November 15, 2026

Daniel Reed

Kayla Harrison biography: Kayla Harrison is an American mixed martial artist and former judoka, a two-time Olympic judo gold medallist who became the UFC women’s bantamweight champion in 2025. Born Kayla Jean Harrison on July 2, 1990, in Middletown, Ohio, she is the only American judoka ever to win Olympic gold, and the first woman to win both an Olympic gold medal and a UFC championship. On November 14, 2026, she defended her UFC title at UFC 334 in New York, submitting Amanda Nunes by rear-naked choke in the fourth round.

Quick facts

Full name: Kayla Jean Harrison
Born: July 2, 1990, Middletown, Ohio, United States
Nationality: American
Occupation: Mixed martial artist; former judoka
Known for: Two Olympic judo gold medals (2012, 2016); UFC women’s bantamweight champion; two-time PFL lightweight champion
Height: 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Team: American Top Team, Coconut Creek, Florida
Children: Two (adopted niece and nephew, Kyla and Emery)

Early life

Harrison was born in Middletown, Ohio, and took up judo at the age of six, introduced to the sport by her mother, Jeannie Yazell, who was a black belt. She won two national championships by the age of 15, but her early career was shadowed by abuse: her first judo coach, Daniel Doyle, sexually abused her from the age of 13. At 16 she disclosed the abuse to another judoka, who told her mother, and the case was reported to the police. Doyle pleaded guilty in November 2007 and was sentenced to ten years in federal prison. A month after the abuse was revealed, Harrison moved from Ohio to the Boston area to train under Jimmy Pedro Jr. and his father, “Big Jim” Pedro, who became her coaches and surrogate family. She graduated from Middletown High School in Ohio. Years later she wrote about the experience in her book Fighting Back (2018) and founded the Fearless Foundation in 2013, an organisation dedicated to empowering survivors of child sexual abuse.

Judo career: two Olympic golds

Harrison moved up to the −78 kg division in 2008, the year she won the Junior World Championship. She won the senior World Championships in Tokyo in 2010 — the first American to do so since her coach Jimmy Pedro in 1999 — and took world bronze in Paris in 2011 and Chelyabinsk in 2014. She also won gold at the Pan American Games in 2011 and 2015. At the London 2012 Olympics, fighting with a torn medial collateral ligament, she beat Britain’s Gemma Gibbons by two yukos on August 2, 2012, to become the first American ever to win an Olympic gold medal in judo. Four years later in Rio de Janeiro she did it again, beating France’s Audrey Tcheuméo in the final. She remains the only American judoka to have won Olympic gold. On August 31, 2016, she was promoted to rokudan — sixth-degree black belt — becoming the youngest American ever to hold the rank. She was inducted into the United States Judo Federation Hall of Fame in 2015 and the International Sports Hall of Fame in March 2023, and received the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Wilma Rudolph Courage Award in 2012.

Switch to MMA and the PFL

After retiring from judo, Harrison announced in October 2016 that she had signed with the World Series of Fighting, initially as a commentator, and made her professional MMA debut with the Professional Fighters League at PFL 2 on June 21, 2018, submitting Brittney Elkin by armbar in the first round. She won the PFL women’s lightweight tournament in 2019, beating Larissa Pacheco by unanimous decision in the final on December 31, 2019, at Madison Square Garden, and repeated as champion in 2021, submitting Taylor Guardado by armbar in the second round. Each tournament win carried a $1 million prize. In 2020, with the PFL season cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, she fought once for Invicta FC, stopping Courtney King by second-round TKO at featherweight. Her unbeaten run ended in November 2022, when Pacheco beat her by unanimous decision in the 2022 PFL final — her first defeat in 16 professional fights. She returned with a unanimous-decision win over Aspen Ladd in November 2023, then signed with the UFC in January 2024.

UFC champion

Harrison made her UFC debut at UFC 300 on April 13, 2024, submitting former champion Holly Holm by rear-naked choke in the second round in her first fight at bantamweight. She beat Ketlen Vieira by unanimous decision at UFC 307 that October, and on June 7, 2025, at UFC 316, she submitted Julianna Peña with a kimura at the end of the second round to win the UFC women’s bantamweight championship, earning a Performance of the Night bonus. She became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal and a UFC title. Moments after the win, Amanda Nunes — the former two-division champion, who had retired in 2023 — entered the octagon to face her off, setting up one of the biggest women’s fights in MMA history.

Defending the title against Amanda Nunes

The first defence was booked for UFC 324 on January 24, 2026, but Harrison withdrew after being diagnosed with herniated discs in her neck, which required surgery. The fight was rebooked as the co-main event of UFC 334 on November 14, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Nunes, 38, was returning from more than three years of retirement, and the two former American Top Team training partners headlined the biggest women’s bout of the year. Harrison won by submission, sinking a rear-naked choke at 1:29 of the fourth round after taking Nunes down in a grappling scramble, and took home a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus. The win moved her professional record to 20–1, with a 4–0 UFC record. Afterwards she was non-committal about her future, telling Joe Rogan she had “a lot of decisions to make” and that she would see how she felt after healing — stopping short of announcing a retirement.

Personal life

In 2020 Harrison took full custody of her niece and nephew, Kyla and Emery, after her mother suffered a stroke in 2019 and her stepfather, Bob, died suddenly in May 2020; she became their legal mother in 2021. She raises the two children as a single mother in the Parkland area of Florida, near her American Top Team base in Coconut Creek, and has said motherhood made her a better fighter. She has never married. Away from fighting she runs the Fearless Foundation, speaks publicly about child sexual abuse prevention, and has endorsement deals with Monster Energy, FUJI Sports and Celsius Energy.

Net worth snapshot

As of November 2026, Kayla Harrison’s net worth is estimated at $1.5–$3 million, based on the published estimates of Surprise Sports and Glimmer Sports. No Forbes, Bloomberg, Hurun or Celebrity Net Worth figure exists for her. The fortune comes from her fighting career: $2 million in PFL tournament prize money, UFC purses and bonuses, and endorsement deals.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Kayla Harrison?

Kayla Harrison is an American mixed martial artist and former judoka, the only American judoka ever to win Olympic gold — she won the women’s −78 kg judo title at London 2012 and Rio 2016. She is a two-time PFL lightweight champion and the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion, the first woman to win both an Olympic gold medal and a UFC title.

How old is Kayla Harrison?

Kayla Harrison was born on July 2, 1990, in Middletown, Ohio, so she is 36 years old. She was 22 when she won her first Olympic gold medal in 2012 and 34 when she won the UFC bantamweight title in June 2025.

What is Kayla Harrison’s MMA record?

As of November 15, 2026, Kayla Harrison’s professional MMA record is 20 wins and 1 loss, including 4 wins and no losses in the UFC. Her only defeat came against Larissa Pacheco by unanimous decision in the 2022 PFL final, ending a 15-fight unbeaten start to her career.

Did Kayla Harrison beat Amanda Nunes?

Yes. Kayla Harrison defended her UFC women’s bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes at UFC 334 on November 14, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York, winning by rear-naked choke submission at 1:29 of the fourth round. The fight had originally been scheduled for UFC 324 in January 2026 but was delayed when Harrison needed neck surgery.

What is the Fearless Foundation?

The Fearless Foundation is the non-profit organisation Kayla Harrison founded in 2013 to empower survivors of child sexual abuse through education and wellness programmes. Harrison, who was abused by her first judo coach as a teenager, also wrote about her experience in her 2018 book Fighting Back.