Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino has fired back at Kayla Harrison, asserting that she would have the grappling advantage if the two were to meet in the PFL cage.
Harrison has repeatedly called out Cyborg over the past few years, but a matchup has yet to materialize between the two dominant female stars. With the recent acquisition of Bellator by the PFL, a Cyborg vs. Harrison bout now seems more likely than ever before.
When asked about Harrison’s constant callouts, Cyborg expressed confidence that her grappling skills would overwhelm the two-time Olympic judo gold medalist.
“Kayla has been calling me out for 3 years,” Cyborg said. “But she’d be having a hard problem for me and I’ll tell you guys, I know just can keep it instead of the fight, I can read for her. You can see her fights, and I see a couple I saw her match with Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey, mounted her and everything.” – Cyborg told Mike Pendleton.
Cyborg was referring to Harrison’s 2012 match against fellow judoka Ronda Rousey, where Harrison was mounted multiple times and struggled to escape.
“No. She’s no black belt in the back and the and the floor. I’m gonna tell you now. So may I have a rest? May I have a black belt, did you too? I can mess up her in the 4th too. So it’s gonna be great fight.”
Clearly, Cyborg believes that her Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills would give her a massive advantage on the mat against Harrison. While Harrison won gold in judo, Cyborg holds a black belt in BJJ under the renowned Rubens Charles Cobrinha.
With both women possessing knockout power and high-level grappling abilities, Cyborg vs. Harrison has the makings of a thrilling contest. But if Cyborg’s words ring true, we could see Harrison struggling to deal with the Brazilian’s submissions should the fight hit the canvas.