Kayla Harrison isn’t choosing herself – or any other actual nominees – as the deserving winner of this year’s ‘Best UFC Fighter’ ESPY.
Harrison has enjoyed another successful 12 months in the cage, culminating in the realization of her UFC championship aspirations.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist followed her emphatic submission against Holly Holm on debut by grinding out a hard-fought decision against Ketlen Vieira last October. That result earned the ex-PFL star a title shot, which Harrison made the most of at UFC 316 by submitting Julianna Pena with a kimura.
Those performances have earned Harrison a spot on the four-athlete list for this year’s ‘Best UFC Fighter’ ESPY award. But the newly crowned bantamweight queen is instead throwing her support behind her snubbed teammate.
Kayla Harrison says unnominated Alexandre Pantoja is most worthy of ESPY award
Joining Harrison as nominees for the 2025 ESPY award are former lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, reigning middleweight titleholder Dricus du Plessis, and current bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili.
After confirmation of the nominees, the ESPN MMA account on X asked for the fans’ opinions with a social media poll.
One of the fighters eligible to win quickly gave their pick, but it was not from the list of nominees.
While some in the comments section questioned Ilia Topuria’s omission, Harrison pointed to her fellow American Top Team-trained champion, Alexandre Pantoja.
“My vote is for Pantoja,” she wrote.
‘The Cannibal’ was in action just this past Saturday at UFC 317 in Las Vegas. Pantoja submitted Kai Kara-France in the co-headliner to successfully defend the flyweight title for the fourth time.
Sean O’Malley, Jon Jones, and other past ESPY winners
Whoever wins at this year’s ceremony on July 16 would certainly be in good company.
A number of legends and former champions have emerged with the award in recent years, including ex-bantamweight kingpin Sean O’Malley in 2024, retired two-division champ Jon Jones in 2023, lightweight fan-favorite Charles Oliveira in 2022, and GOAT contender Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2021.
2020 marked the first time MMA received its own category, having previously been relegated to sharing a “best fighter” award with boxers. The first winner of the MMA-exclusive award was Daniel Cormier.
Even while competing with boxers, the stars of the UFC still enjoyed some success, with Demetrious Johnson, Conor McGregor, and Ronda Rousey helping end Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s dominance over the award.