Laura Sanko expects Kayla Harrison's UFC debut to provide a "breath of fresh air" to the women's bantamweight division

Kayla Harrison is set to make her promotional debut when she faces Holly Holm on the preliminary card of UFC 300. Laura Sanko expects the two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo to bring "a breath of fresh air" to the women's bantamweight division.

Speaking to Matt Brown and Damon Martin of The Fighter vs. The Writer, the UFC commentator stated:

"In a card this stacked, lots of things feel like maybe they're not getting all the attention they're due and that's the story of Kayla Harrison coming to the UFC. I cannot overstate how big of a fan I am of her in terms of not just her fighting, but her as a human being. She's just an awesome person."

Sanko continued:

"The bantamweight division needs someone like Kayla Harrison to come in here and shake it up, and quite frankly, women's MMA in the UFC right now needs a little bit of a breath of fresh air. Hopefully, she can come out here and make that insanely difficult cut and not have it affect her too much in the fight, and make good on, I think, the idea that a lot of people have for her for what she can do in the UFC."

Check out Laura Sanko's comments on Kayla Harrison's UFC debut below (5:45):

While the bantamweight division was the first women's division in the promotion and has included stars such as Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes in the past, it is currently lacking star power. Harrison will join the promotion with the potential to bring back some of the division's missing star power as a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL women's lightweight champion.

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Kayla Harrison discusses her weight cut ahead of UFC 300

There has been plenty of speculation as to whether or not Kayla Harrison will make weight leading up to UFC 300, as she has never competed at 135 pounds. Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, the two-time Olympic gold medalist stated:

"I'm at about 150 pounds... I'm not sitting in a sauna at 1:38 right now so yeah, life is still good. I mean, it's chosen suffering. We all make sacrifices. We all have to pay now or pay later, but eventually we all pay... This is something that I'm willing to sacrifice for. This is something I signed on the dotted line for. So, it's my responsibility, it's my duty... Overall, I feel really good. My body feels good. My mind is clear. My heart is wide open and ready for the future."

Check out Kayla Harrison's full comments on her weight cut below:

Harrison has almost exclusively competed at 155 pounds since making her mixed martial arts debut in 2018. While she did have one bout at 145 pounds in 2020, she has never fought at 135 pounds. Holly Holm previously shared that she will not take the fight if her opponent is unable to make weight.