Senna van de Veerdonk Hopes to Follow in Kayla Harrison’s Footsteps

Senna van de Veerdonk will have the occasion to showcase her judo skills at the upcoming PFL Challenger Series Week 1, hoping to impress her role model, Kayla Harrison.

Van de Veerdonk (3-1) is scheduled to take on fellow European prospect Karolina Sobek in a women’s featherweight tilt on Feb. 3. Fighting out of the Netherlands, van de Veerdonk features a noticeable judo background that has allowed her to score three submission victories by armbar. While talking with Sherdog, van de Veerdonk confessed she started following the Professional Fighters League thanks to two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison. Van de Veerdonk hopes she can adapt her judo skills to mixed martial arts as well as Harrison to land a contract for the upcoming season.

“I started following Kayla cause of course she comes from [the same] background [like myself], she’s a great judo [practitioner]. I started to watch her and, of course, the PFL tournament. It was like a dream coming true when they asked me to do this. I think Kayla is a great fighter and does the MMA game well with that judo [background]. I think I can learn from that.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:31) Visiting the Czech Republic
(01:24) Preparing for Sobek
(02:14) Her sparring partners
(03:25) Her judo background
(04:55) Her passion for armbar submissions
(05:30) Her Challenger Series expectations
(06:25) Following Kayla Harrison’s career
(07:19) Comparisons with Ronda Rousey
(08:01) Outro