Kayla Harrison Children: Does Kayla Harrison Have Children?
John Campbell
Updated on December 30, 2025
Kayla Harrison Children: Does Kayla Harrison Have Children? – Kayla Harrison, who was raised in Middletown, Ohio, started judo at the age of six after her mother, a black belt, introduced her to the sport. She graduated from Middletown High School with a diploma (Ohio).
When she was 15 years old, she started working out with coach Daniel Doyle and had already won two national championships. Harrison reported Doyle’s sexual abuse to another judoka, who then told Harrison’s mother. At the time, Doyle was abusing Harrison sexually. She later informed the police about this.
Doyle was slapped with a ten-year prison term after he was found guilty. A month after the abuse was made public, she relocated from Ohio to Boston in order to train with Jimmy Pedro and his father.
In 2008, she switched weight divisions, moving from 63 kg to 78 kg. Due to the United States’ lack of qualification in that division, she was unable to participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
She became the first American to compete in two Junior World Championship finals when she won the Junior World Championship that year and finished in second place the following year.
Harrison was inducted into the USJF Hall of Fame in 2015, and on August 31, 2016, after winning her second gold medal at the Olympics, the USJA promoted Harrison to rokudan (6th Degree Black Belt), making her the nation’s youngest-ever recipient of this rank.
In October 2016, Harrison, a fellow judoka and former training partner of Ronda Rousey, made known that she had joined the World Series of Fighting. She stated that she would initially work as a commentator but that she had also been hired to compete, most likely in the women’s 145-pound (66 kg) division.
On June 21, 2018, Harrison competed in her first mixed martial arts match at PFL 2 against Brittney Elkin in the Women’s Lightweight division. Due to an armbar in the opening round, she was able to win by submission.
Harrison competed in her second professional match against Jozette Cotton at PFL 6 on August 16, 2018. By way of TKO in the third round, she prevailed.
In PFL 11 in 2018, Harrison competed on the main card and defeated Moriel Charneski. Harrison received a contract exemption to join the Invicta FC after the 2020 PFL season was canceled. On November 20, 2020, at Invicta FC 43, she made her Featherweight debut against Courtney King. In the second round, she was the victor by TKO.
At that time, Harrison was anticipated to play for Titan FC. She was slated to rematch Jozette Cotton at Titan FC 66 on December 17, 2020. Due to Cotton’s poor weight cut the day before the fight, the contest was postponed.
Kayla Harrison Children: Does Kayla Harrison Have Children?
No information about Kayla Harrison’s children was available as of 2022, but after her stepfather, who was raising the kids at the time, unexpectedly passed away, Harrison was given full custody of her niece Kyla and nephew Emery.