Kayla Harrison vs. Marina Mokhnatkina headlines PFL 3 on May 6.

Off the back of penning a new contract with the PFL (Professional Fighters League), two time lightweight tournament victor, Kayla Harrison is booked to headline the promotion’s May 6. event, PFL 3 – from the Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas. 

The undefeated Harrison is set to share the PFL ‘Smartcage’ opposite Bellator MMA and Fight Nights Global veteran, lightweight sambo specialist, Marina Mokhnatkina in a lightweight headliner in the Lone Star State. The promotion confirmed the pairing in an official press release. 

Ohio native, Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist Judoka, boasts an unbeaten 12-0 professional mixed martial arts résumé since her transition to the sport back in June 2018. 

In her most recent outing, Kayla Harrison became a two-time lightweight tournament victor under the organization’s banner with a final submission victory over Taylor Guardado – scoring a second round armbar victory back in October. Following the PFL 10 finale, Harrison briefly tested free agency before returning to the PFL on a multi-fight contract.

Competing under the scrutiny of the promotion since her professional bow, Harrison has landed five knockout wins to go with a further five submission stoppages – landing wins over Genah Fabian, Cindy Dandois, and Mariana Morais in last year’s lightweight tournament before her finale victory against Guardado. 

6-2 as a professional, Mokhnatkina, a native of Perm Krai, is a six-time sambo world champion, competing twice under the Bellator banner before her August move to PFL.

The 33-year-old has competed professionally since June 2016, landing a run of four consevutie victories over Ekaterina Torbeeva, Karina Vasilenko, Irina Degtyareva, and Karine Silva – before dropping her first professional loss against UFC flyweight and former Fight Nights Global bantamweight gold holder, Liana Jojua. 

In her first outing under the Scott Coker-led Bellator banner, Mokhnatkina dropped a unanimous judging loss to Janay Harding, before besting Amanda Bell with a unanimous decision of her own. At PFL 8 last August, Mokhnatkina defeated Claudia Zamora with another judging triumph.

Ross Markey

Senior writer for FightBook MMA. An aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Producer of news articles, interviews, opinion features, and exclusive features such as, ‘The Fallout’, ‘The Breakdown, and, ‘This Week In MMA’.