Daniel Cormier Criticizes Julianna Pena for Not Drafting Kayla Harrison: ‘She Dropped the Ball’

Julianna Pena was given the opportunity to promote her next title defense after regaining the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 307, but instead turned her attention to an unlikely rematch against a fighter who is currently retired.

After a controversial win over Raquel Pennington in the UFC 307 co-main event, Pena was asked what was in store for her and a split screen showed Kayla Harrison backstage waiting for reaction after defeating Ketlen Vieira earlier in the evening to earn a deserve a title shot. Instead of recognizing Harrison, who the UFC quite clearly names as the No. 1 contender, Pena asked for a trilogy against Amanda Nunes, who called it a career in June 2023.

“I will say this: She dropped the ball on the callout,” UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier said as he addressed Pena after UFC 307 ended. “I mean Kayla is on the screen. Say her name. Why not sell the person who will clearly be your #1 contender?

“There isn’t a world where she isn’t fighting Kayla Harrison. She’s fighting her now. Might as well put the sales on it.”

Harrison moved to 2-0 in the UFC on Saturday with a unanimous decision over Vieira in the opening fight on the main card. While not as dominant as her debut against former champion Holly Holm at UFC 300, Harrison still earned a win against one of the UFC’s top-ranked challengers, solidifying her spot as the rightful 135-pound contender.

During the broadcast, Harrison could only shake her head in disappointment when Pena called for the Nunes fight, despite UFC color commentator Joe Rogan specifically mentioning the two-time Olympic gold medalist as her most likely next opponent.

Cormier believes Pena should have started building up to that fight now instead of waiting, because there’s almost no world where Harrison isn’t her next opponent.

“Don’t wait until the fight is announced,” Cormier said. “Now you are one step behind, when you had the opportunity to be one step ahead in your fight with Kayla Harrison, who will be the No. 1 contender for your championship in the future.

“Tonight Kayla Harrison didn’t look so good. Kayla looked better. Tonight she looked like a girl who needs to be eliminated and if she doesn’t, she’s still in the very early stages of her attack. Julianna Pena should have been more willing to say her name after this performance.”

While not a fan of her call, Cormier did congratulate Pena on becoming a two-time champion with her victory over Pennington.

As much as the post-fight scorecards were up for debate, Cormier still praised Pena for putting on a gutsy performance and bringing a title back to the same gym that UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad calls home.

“The one thing you can never doubt about Julianna Pena is her badassness,” Cormier said. “She will be a deserving champion.

“At the end of the day, she will be a champion again and Mike Valle and his team at Valle Flow now have two UFC champions on their roster. Huge for a gym outside of Chicago that isn’t a huge, huge gym.