Kayla Harrison isn’t the primary occasion at UFC 307, however she positively took heart stage throughout a few heated exchanges throughout the pre-fight press convention on Thursday.
It was nearly anticipated that the two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo would get drawn right into a disagreement with Julianna Pena after they’ve gone back-and-forth by interviews for the higher a part of the previous 12 months. While Harrison is going through Ketlen Vieira on Saturday, and Pena goes for gold towards Raquel Pennington, each fighters not often escape an interview with out being requested a few potential struggle between them.
Still, Harrison tried to take care of her declaration that it doesn’t matter who has the belt after UFC 307 as a result of she’s coming for them.
“Fill in the blank,” Harrison stated about her selection of opponents. “It doesn’t matter. It’s only a matter of time. I’m the uncrowned queen. First Saturday night, I smash Ketlen and then I come for my title. Enjoy it while you can ladies.”
Of course, Harrison admitted that she would gladly drive an elbow by Pena’s head free of charge, which prompted a response from the previous UFC ladies’s bantamweight champion.
“I know violence,” Pena stated. “Kayla just got here to the scene. As far as I’m concerned, the last time she faced a Brazilian, she came running into the UFC.”
While Pena wished to deliver up Harrison’s solely profession loss in a choice to Larissa Pacheco in the PFL, the 34-year-old bantamweight rapidly reminded her counterpart that she’s been much more lively with quite a bit much less time in the game.
“I have more finishes than Julianna has wins,” Harrison stated. “I don’t know what she’s speaking about. She higher decelerate.
“[I] just got here? I won two Olympic gold medals. You started your career in 2009 and you’re 10-5. I started in 2018 and I’m 17-1.”
That quantity didn’t appear to impress Pena.
“It’s easy to be 17-1 when you’re fighting freaking tomato cans,” Pena stated.
Perhaps the extra awkward disagreement got here from Harrison’s interplay with Vieira, who comes into the struggle as one of many largest underdogs on all the card.
Usually tender spoken, notably as a result of she’s sometimes speaking by a translator, Vieira obtained reasonably animated on Thursday whereas taking private photographs and low blows at Harrison.
“Listen, it’s going to be really hard looking at your ugly face for me,” Vieira stated. “It’s going to be OK when you look in the mirror.”
The touch upon her look was clearly surprising however Harrison reminded Vieira “my mom thinks I’m pretty … my kids think I’m pretty, too,” earlier than capping that off by calling her opponent an “asshole.”
Vieira’s frustration in the direction of Harrison stems from the eye the previous two-time PFL champion has acquired since signing with the UFC as a high-profile free agent. In her first look with the promotion, Harrison obtained a spot on the coveted UFC 300 card the place she dismantled former champion Holly Holm for a submission win inside two rounds.
Now Harrison is competing in a de facto No. 1 contenders bout whereas awaiting the prospect to face both Pennington or Pena subsequent.
That simply didn’t appear proper to Vieira, who has been grinding her method by the ladies’s bantamweight division in the UFC for the previous eight years.
“I know you have a great history in judo and I respect that but for you to skip the line, I feel that’s a little too much,” Vieira stated. “We work so arduous for this. Think about myself, since 2018, first I beat Sara McMann and I believed I've a shot on the title. Then I'm going on the market and beat Cat Zingano, the woman that truly beat Amanda Nunes, I believed I had a shot on the title. Then I beat two former champions and I believed I’m going to have a shot on the title.
“All of a sudden you come out here and you skip the line. Actually I had a loss then and I had a loss to Raquel Pennington, somebody active, the current champion, somebody I admire a lot and someone I mirror myself and my game and the way I behave myself [after]. Because I think coming here and actually being a champion is more than just coming here and saying a lot of bologna.”
For all of the discuss her skipping the road or getting one thing she doesn’t deserve, Harrison reminded everyone on stage that she’s prepared for all challenges and invitations them to attempt and shut her up.
“This is the difference between me and all of these girls,” Harrison stated. “I come here and they complain ‘she skipped the line, she’s on steroids, it’s not fair, she shouldn’t do this, she shouldn’t do that.’ If this was my division, and I was the champion, I would say come the f*ck over and I’ll show you who’s champion.”
