Newark, NJ — If Kayla Harrison pulls off the win over UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena at UFC 316 this weekend, just what would being a two-time Olympic gold medal winner, two-time PFL champ, and UFC champion mean to her?
That’s something she addressed during Wednesday’s UFC 316 media day, with Cageside Press in attendance ahead of this weekend’s Pay-Per-View card in Newark, NJ.
“It’s a testament I think to my character, my grit, my determination,” answered Harrison (18-1), seen by many as the future face of the women’s bantamweight division. “I’m very happy with my career, I’ve climbed a lot of mountains, I’ve done more than most will ever do, and I’m very satisfied with it. But this belt is for me.”
Harrison competed as a lightweight under the PFL banner, then dropped not one but two weight classes upon her move to the UFC (she had, it’s worth noting, made the featherweight limit for Invicta FC in a one-off fight). Upon arrival, Harrison was headed for a collision with teammate Amanda Nunes, until Nunes retired. With Julianna Pena now champion at 135lbs, a different sort of rivalry has emerged, one brimming with trash talk.
“I think that that’s part of the business, and Julianna doesn’t excel at fighting, so she has to excel at the other piece of it,” Harrison observed on that front. “And it’s not personal to me. She’s just doing her job.”
Fans have gotten behind Harrison ahead of this title fight, coming around to the former PFL star in a way they did not, initially, when she arrived in the UFC. As to why that might be, it’s perhaps that “Julianna is the perfect villain to make me the hero in people’s eyes,” suggested Harrison.
On the match-up itself, the Judo practitioner stated that “I just believe I’m better everywhere. I think that I’m bigger, faster, stronger, I think that I’ve got more positive experience. I think that my grappling’s better, my striking’s better, I think my fight IQ is higher. And never mind being inside of a cage, I’m a fighter in life. So if she thinks that she’s going to out-fight me, she’s got another thing coming.”
Asked about Pena representing the 135lb division and how she carries herself, meanwhile, Harrison replied by saying that “I feel nothing.”
“I focus on myself, I focus on how I carry myself, what I can do. I try not to throw stones from a glass house. Nobody’s perfect, we’re all doing the best we can. But there’s going to be a new face of women’s MMA very soon.”
With wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira last year, Harrison now looks to cement her spot in the history books as a multi-promotion champ.
Watch the full UFC 316 media day appearance by Kayla Harrison above.
