Miranda Maverick thinks Kayla Harrison will dethrone Julianna Pena, even with subpar placing.
Through the years, Harrison has turn out to be probably the most dominant feminine fighters in MMA historical past, profitable back-to-back PFL championships and dominating in her first two appearances below the UFC banner. Now, Harrison finds herself because the No. 2 ranked contender within the bantamweight division and is probably going the following lady in line to problem reigning 135-pound queen Julianna Pena.
‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ reclaimed the title in October through a cut up determination victory over Raquel Pennington at UFC 307.
Maverick claims Kayla Harrison’s victory over Pena is ‘guaranteed’
Other than Larissa Pacheco, Pena may very effectively be one of the best striker Harrison has ever confronted, however in line with Maverick, none of that can matter as soon as it’s time for the 2 to step contained in the Octagon.
“I think Kayla will win,” Maverick advised Inside Preventing. “I think her striking is, uh, not very good and hasn’t seemed to improve very much over time, but I think she’ll win regardless. I think she’ll get it to the ground, and Pena won’t be getting back up. Um, and yeah, Pena will lose her title if she goes against Kayla. Guaranteed.”
No official bulletins have been made relating to their potential showdown, however contemplating Pena has solely competed thrice since 2021, we could possibly be ready some time.
Pena is 8-3 within the UFC together with her losses coming in opposition to former champions Valentina Shevchenko, Germain de Randamie, and Amanda Nunes.
Harrison is 18-1 in her MMA profession, her solely loss coming in opposition to Pacheco on the 2022 PFL World Championship. The next yr, Harrison bounced again with a dominant win over Aspen Ladd earlier than exiting the promotion and signing with the UFC. In 2024, she earned wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira.