Kayla Harrison explains respect behind callouts of Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg: “You’re the best”

PFL women’s lightweight contender Kayla Harrison’s chase for greatness is driving her callouts of other champions.

The Judoka is set to headline PFL 10 later tonight on pay-per-view. Standing opposite Harrison will be Larissa Pacheco. The Brazilian is riding a five-fight finishing streak but has already lost twice to the former Olympian by decision.

Heading into the tournament final, the American Top Team talent has revealed this will be her last season in the PFL. That doesn’t mean she’s looking for the exit, however. Harrison has noted that she plans to continue fighting in the promotion for the foreseeable future but in a non-tournament format.

Since beginning her MMA career in 2018, Kayla Harrison has made some big callouts. Since becoming the face of PFL, she’s tried to attract some big names to fight her. Harrison had talks with the UFC about a clash with Amanda Nunes, and with Bellator to face Cris Cyborg.

Neither of those matchups has come to fruition as of now and has just led to the Brazilians having beef with Harrison. Nunes famously left American Top Team, as to avoid confrontation with the PFL star prior to a possible fight.

As she explained in a recent interview with MMAFighting, that wasn’t Harrison’s intention. In the interview, she stated the callouts of Nunes and Cyborg were motivated out of respect, not anger.

Image: UFC on Instagram

“After you have a big fight and you’re inside the cage and blood is pumping and the adrenaline is coursing through your veins, you say a lot of crazy s***,” Harrison stated in the interview. “Obviously that’s been the goal the whole time.” (h/t MMAFighting)

She continued, “I don’t mean any disrespect to Amanda and I don’t mean any disrespect to Cyborg. It’s actually the most respectful thing I can say to them. You’re the best, I want to fight you because you’re the best. I can’t be any more complimentary than that.”

While the concept of Kayla Harrison facing ‘The Lioness’ or Cris Cyborg seems appealing, she’s still got business to tend to. For her part, Larissa Pacheco seems motivated to shock the world tonight on ESPN+ pay-per-view.

What do you make of these comments? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!