Henry Cejudo believes Ketlen Vieira could pose problems for Kayla Harrison on the feet.
Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) meets Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a pivotal bantamweight clash Saturday at UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) from Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Harrison is a massive -800 favorite over Vieira, according to DraftKings, but if she can’t get the fight to the ground, Cejudo sees a path to victory for the Brazilian.
“It’s hard to bet against a girl like Kayla Harrison,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “But I think out of all the girls right now at 135 pounds that could match her strength, because you know Vieira’s a judo blackbelt, as well, and in my opinion she has better hands than Harrison. So it’s going to come down to the wrestling.
“And I do feel like Kayla Harrison is going to bring the wrestling in, and that’s just what’s going to change it. But if Vieira can keep it on her feet, I think Kayla could be in trouble, dude. Her striking is no joke, man. She trains out there with Jose Aldo. If Kayla cannot take her down, it’s going to lean more towards Vieira’s side.”
Although Cejudo sees Viera as Harrison’s toughest stylistic matchup at bantamweight, he ultimately went with the two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka as his final pick.
“But because of the wrestling, I got to go with the two-time Olympic champ,” Cejudo concluded. “I don’t want to go against Kayla, dealing with her is a f*cking pain, dude. There’s too much ego between both of us combined. So, I’m going to have to go with the two-time Olympic champion, because of the wrestling. Not because of the judo, because of the wrestling.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
