Kayla Harrison is channeling her inner Thanos ahead of UFC 307. Harrison fights Ketlen Vieira in a likely women’s bantamweight title eliminator on Saturday, but the Olympic gold medalist says her ascension is “inevitable.”
Some people thought Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka and two-time Professional Fighters League champion, earned a UFC title shot after steamrolling former champ Holly Holm in her April UFC debut. Yet Harrison was instead booked on the main card of a pay-per-view featuring UFC women’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Pena.
Harrison says she was anointed as the official backup fighter for the title fight but wasn’t given a reason by UFC CEO Dana White for not getting the immediate title shot.
“I think Dana probably promised Julianna a title fight and he’s a man of his word,” Harrison told CBS Sports. “So she’s fighting for the title. I think it’s that cut and dry. I’m new. It’s not like this was the plan for a year or two years. It materialized. I saw an opportunity and I took it. I’m sure that was the plan for her to come back and fight for the title. I’m just here to f— up everything for everyone.”
Pennington told CBS Sports this week she believes Harrison is a bigger fight than Pena, calling her a “new era” Holm thanks to her career accolades. When asked who the best women’s bantamweight on the planet is not named Pena, Saturday’s title challenger picked retired former champion Amanda Nunes over an active contender. Pena also told CBS Sports she plans to call out Nunes post-fight.
Harrison agreed she was a bigger legacy fight when informed of Pennington’s response, and proceeded to rip Pena for distancing herself from the Olympic judoka.
“I think that Julianna, if she wins this fight against Raquel, will probably try to be inactive and push to have Amanda come back,” Harrison said. “She’s trying to avoid the inevitable. I wouldn’t want to fight me either, I get it. She’s calling out Amanda, she’s saying that I’m on steroids.
“Julianna doesn’t have a win over someone in the [women’s bantamweight] top 15 right now. I’m almost 1000% positive. What has she been doing? She has had two years off and is coming off a loss. She’s going to be fighting for a title now. She’s been blessed with this gift… Her time is coming and, more importantly, my time is coming. I’ll be prepared for when it does and I hope she is too.”
Harrison hopes a win in Salt Lake City this weekend banks her a title shot early next year. Ideally, Harrison would like to compete at least once every six months.
“I’m ready to be UFC champion. I’m ready,” Harrison said. “This is the dream. This is the goal.”
