Two bantamweight champions. One big party.
“Congratulations, champ! Let me raise your hand,” Dvalishvili told Harrison. “We are the champions!”
Dvalishvili then issued a quick pointer to Harrison — more used to wearing Olympic gold around her neck — on how to hold the belt for a photo opp.
Harrison’s presumed next challenger in Amanda Nunes stepping out of retirement and into the cage for a chance to get her belt back.
Dvalishvili retained his 135-pound championship when he tapped out Sean O’Malley in the third round and Harrison made 135-pound champion Julianna Peña quit with five seconds left in the second round in front of a crowd that included Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson on Saturday night at the Prudential Center.
Harrison, who said she struggled so hard with cutting weight to 135 pounds that she feared just how she would make it in one piece ahead of the weigh in, continued to move up the list in just a short time as one of the great female fighters in MMA history.
She’s used to major victories in the spotlight.
No U.S. judoka — man or woman — had ever won an Olympic gold medal before Harrison beat Britain’s Gemma Gibbons to win the women’s 78-kilogram division at the 2012 London Olympics. She won gold again four years later at the Rio de Janeiro Games and made her MMA debut in 2018.
The 34-year-old Harrison was a two-time $1 million prize champion in the Professional Fighters League lightweight championship division before she moved on to UFC last year. She won her first two UFC bouts and her record — now a sparkling 19-1 in MMA overall — coupled with her fame made her an instant contender for a title shot.
She needed just three UFC fights to become a champion.
Harrison dropped to her knees in a teary celebration as Ivanka Trump stood and snapped photos of the moment. Harrison then called out Nunes, who retired in 2023 but said ahead of the fight she would return to the cage to fight the winner.
“I definitely want to fight Amanda. She’s the greatest of all time,” Harrison said. “I want to be the greatest of all time.”
Harrison called out Nunes to enter the ring and after some encouragement from announcer Joe Rogan for security to open the cage door, she walked in and the two went face-to-face. Nunes, who is set for induction this summer into the UFC Hall of Fame, said she would indeed fight Harrison at some point for the 135-pound belt.
The crowd went wild as the two engaged in a brief staredown.
“We’re going to bring women’s MMA to a whole new level,” Harrison said.