‘Uncrowned queen’ Kayla Harrison tastes blood, wants to win UFC title

SALT LAKE CITY – Kayla Harrison continues to check the boxes of new experiences in martial arts.

Just over six years into her one-loss MMA career, Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) saw her own blood in a fight for the first time. Ketlen Vieira (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) was the opponent to whom it was due.

That doesn’t mean Harrison was in trouble Saturday against the Brazilian in their women’s bantamweight bout to open the UFC 307 pay-per-view main card at Delta Center. She mostly came to a unanimous decision, including a few scores of 30-27. But the blood thing was new.

“That threw me off, I’m not going to lie to you,” Harrison told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight press conference. “Nineteen fights later, I have never seen my own blood in the cage. But it feels good.”

Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, was in just her second UFC fight. She came to the promotion earlier this year after spending her entire MMA career in the PFL, where she won two $1 million single-season titles.

She said she thinks a little testing from Vieira, who she thought could beat UFC 307 co-headliners Julianna Peña or Raquel Pennington, might be the push she needs.

“I feel like I’m going to grow from this tonight,” Harrison said. “It’s a really good learning opportunity for me, and tomorrow we’ll go back home, watch the fight again and dissect it. Tomorrow is a new day – there is a lot of room for improvement for me.”

In the co-feature, Peña (13-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) upset Pennington (16-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) to win the 135-pound title, about two years after losing it to Amanda Nunes .

And while it was assumed that Harrison’s fight with Vieira would be a top contender fight, Peña said in her post-fight press conference that she hopes Nunes comes out of retirement to fight her for a third time. The two are 1-1 against each other.

Of course, Harrison might find the timing for that odd. She wants a title shot against the new two-time champion Peña, but if she has to keep fighting, she will.

“I think there are athletes, there are artists and there are fighters, and sometimes you have to dig deep. That’s what a fighter does,” Harrison said. “… Warriors fight. If you’re the best in the world, you’re the best in the world. It doesn’t matter (who I fight). I am the uncrowned queen. If I have the belt, if I don’t have the belt, I’m still the best in the world. I would fight – I don’t care who it is. Fill in the blank. I mean that when I say it. I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who will beat me right now.”

And that, she hopes, is the X-factor to become a champion in the UFC.

“I’ve done some fantastic things in my career. I want this to be a really big event again,” Harrison said. “I know I don’t have forever left as an athlete, so I want to make the most of it while I can. I have a long list of things I want to do in the UFC, so let’s get that title.

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s events hub for UFC 307.