Gabi Garcia believes ‘There’s no way’ Kayla Harrison fights Cris Cyborg

Gabi Garcia isn’t buying the Kayla Harrison hype.

The 31-year old two-time Olympic Judo gold medalist in Harrison is currently testing the free agency waters after an 11-0 career in the PFL (12-0 overall). When it comes to likely options, the UFC, Bellator, or returning to the promotion where she’s won two million-dollar titles seem most likely

Relocating to either Bellator or the UFC opens the door of possibility to fights such as Harrison vs. champions Cris “Cyborg” Justino or Amanda Nunes – the former of which Gabi Garcia doesn’t see Harrison faring well in.

“I think she’s still missing a few things to call herself [a] complete [fighter],” Garcia told MMA Fighting. “I can’t see this superiority. I’ve seen [some evolution in her] ground-and-pound in her past fight, but against Cris, Cris is superior to any other woman in this sport. I can’t say 100 percent because I thought Cris would beat Amanda and anything can happen in a fight, but looking at the technique, there’s no chance [Harrison] beats Cris.

“I don’t know what would be Kayla’s gameplan — take her down and stay on top, hold Cris there on side control, ground-and-pound from half ground? Jiu-jitsu-wise, she can’t submit Cris. Cris’ defense on the ground is great and [Harrison] can’t save herself on the feet. I wouldn’t like to fight Cris on the feet.”

The 200-plus pound six-time BJJ world champion in Gabi Garcia (6-0), 36, has been interested in a fight with Harrison for nearly a year now. In extra efforts to make the fight happen, Garcia has been working on losing weight and expressed openness to taking all the tests Harrison wants her to.

“She’s only had one tough fight at PFL,” Garcia said. “The rest, in my opinion, were fights in which she was helped. Not that there’s anything wrong with it – the company built her like every promotion [who] works the fighters they want to build – but I think she talks too much. A fight against Cris would be goodbye for her. There’s no way she fights Cris.

“I’d like to fight her, but I hope Cris gets the fight and gets the job done.”

Garcia last fought in December 2018 when defeating Barbara Nepomuceno via first-round Americana at RIZIN 14. All but one of the Brazilian’s MMA fights have taken place inside the RIZIN ring.

While awaiting a potential return to MMA action, Garcia and Craig Jones have continually been planning an epic intergender grappling match.