Kayla Harrison and a large portion of the MMA community seem to believe it’s an inevitability that she will defeat Julianna Pena to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight title.
Not so fast.
Peña (11-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) recaptured the championship this month at UFC 307 with a split decision over Raquel Pennington in Salt Lake City. Earlier that night, two-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) likely punched her ticket to a crack at gold with a victory over Ketlen Vieira.
Although Peña largely ignored Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in the aftermath of the event and said she was “not impressed” by the performance while subsequently calling for Amanda Nunes to come out of retirement for a trilogy, all signs point to the showdown with Harrison being next.
Peña’s coach, Mike Valle from VFS Academy in Chicago, said his athlete will be ready if it is indeed Harrison. He doesn’t share the same negative slant of the two-time PFL season winner as Peña, but he does think Harrison is in for a rude awakening if she thinks it will be easy to snatch the belt.
“I can’t say that we weren’t impressed,” Valle told MMA Junkie on Friday. “She’s a great fighter. She’s very good in certain areas. It’s nothing that the world hasn’t seen. It’s not nothing we can’t come on top of. She’s good. But Julianna is good, too. When you get her in front of you, you realize how good she is. That’s what makes it very interesting. Whenever Harrison sees Julianna in front of her, she’s going to be like, ‘Oh my God. This girl is way better than what I think.’ And she’s going to be in tons of trouble. That’s what it is. That’s what makes the fight so interesting. All respect to her and her team. I’ve never disrespected her or her team. But I just can’t wait. If they sign a contact, we’ll go to work.”
Valle has heard it all before when it comes to Peña. She’s not skilled enough. Not athletic enough. Not powerful enough. Not dangerous enough. The criticisms can be endless in this industry, but Valle knows better than anyone what he has with “The Venezuelan Vixen” and is happy to let anyone continue to underestimate her.
“When you get that feeling, and you have someone across from you that’s not just going to fight with skills – we’re going to fight with a lot of will,” Valle said. “An unbreakable will. That says something to a person. I think that’s what it is. … You may see the skills and go, ‘OK, she lacks here and here.’ That’s fine. When you have her in front of you, you’re going to see how good she is. Then, on top of that, her will to push, will to go forward and to push. To have her on top of you or in your face all night, it says a lot about an athlete.”
Ultimately, Valle said he knows Peña’s biggest fights and toughest tests are on the horizon. Whether it’s the matchup with Harrison, a trilogy with Nunes or both in successive fashion, Valle is excited to dive into the challenge of game planning and finding a way for Peña to come out on top.
“Both of those fights represent something very interesting in their own way. I think a fight with Amanda would be great, but if it’s Harrison, cracking her is going to be – people think she’s invincible and just going out there and Julianna putting her stamp on it, I think it would be a great statement. From there, Amanda hopefully comes out of retirement. All three girls are amazing and it’s very interesting for MMA fans. Whichever one happens is going to be a great fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
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