Kayla Harrison says Raquel Pennington should fear her UFC arrival.
UFC bantamweight champion Pennington (16-8 MMA, 13-5 UFC) expects to make her first title defense against Julianna Peña, and would take umbrage with Harrison being fast tracked to a title shot.
Harrison (16-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes her octagon debut in a bantamweight bout against former champ Holly Holm (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) on April 13 at UFC 300 in Las Vegas.
“For me, I think it’s Julianna,” Pennington told Low Kick MMA on who’s next. “Just from having to grind from the bottom up, never being handed anything, there’s a lot of women in this division who have been busting their ass for years upon years, and they’re wanting opportunities.
“I do not find it fair. I get the business aspect of it. But I do not find it fair when an athlete comes in and just because they have a big name, they get to skip the line. I’m not opposed to fighting anybody, like scared of anybody. I love the challenges out there.”
Harrison responded to Pennington, and the two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion plans on making herself undeniable with a statement-making performance over Holm.
“I think that my record speaks for itself,” Harrison told MMA Junkie. “So, that’s kind of hard to argue with. I think that if I go out and make a statement, that’s gonna be hard to argue with. I don’t know Raquel’s record, but I’m assuming that there were losses mixed in, like she probably got close then lost.
“That’s her journey. My journey is my journey, and I plan on doing everything in my power to make it so that they want to give me the title shot. I would be saying that if I was Raquel, too. I’d be scared sh*tless.”
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