SALT LAKE CITY – Kayla Harrison would prefer to fight for the women’s bantamweight title on Saturday at UFC 307, but she has put faith in the UFC’s handling of her career.
Former two-time PFL season champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will make her second octagon appearance when she takes on perennial contender Ketlen Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) at Delta Center (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+). The fight takes place just two bouts prior to a divisional title contest, with champion Raquel Pennington set to take on Julianna Peña.
Although Harrison has felt ready to fight for gold since prior to her debut win against Holly Holm at UFC 300 in July, she is embracing the process of being built up as a promotional entity.
“I get it,” Harrison told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 307 media day. “I’m the new kid on the block. I still have some proving of myself to do. But all good. All good.”
Anticipation is one of the great things in life, and Harrison thinks a dominant performance against Vieira will lead to a groundswell of excitement to face whoever wins between Pennington and Peña.
Harrison said there is already demand for her to fight for the belt, and if she could do that on Saturday, too, she absolutely would.
“It’s kind of what fans want, and it’s inevitable,” Harrison said. “I want to fight for the title, and I want to be UFC champion. Julianna has been gifted a title shot, so I’m going to smash Ketlen’s skull, and then I would happily walk out after I beat Ketlen and fight both of those girls. I think I can beat all three girls in the same night. I believe I’m the best in the world and when you’re the best in the world, you can’t be stopped.”
Unless something changes at the last minute, Harrison will be fighting Vieira at UFC 307. The Brazilian has faced almost all of the division’s best over her career, but Harrison doesn’t think Vieira is prepared for the force that’s about to come her way.
“The goal is always to go out there and dominate and install my will three hard rounds, one minute at a time,” Harrison said. “One exchange at a time. One breath at a time. But of course, I’m looking for the TKO, KO or submission.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
