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Julianna Peña Was 'Not Impressed' With Ex-PFL Standout's Title Shot Clincher

Two-time UFC women's bantamweight champion discredited Kayla Harrison after both women earned decisions at UFC 307 Saturday night.

Zain Bando

Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Newly minted two-time UFC women's bantamweight champion Julianna Peña let it be known she is not focused on a fight against former mainstay Kayla Harrison – not yet at least.

Kayla Harrison Batters Ketlen Vieira in One-Sided UFC 307 Fight

Peña defeated former champion Raquel Pennington Saturday night by split decision in the co-main event of UFC 307. Despite a difficult Round 1 to score and getting dropped in Round 4, Peña earned her first win since a Dec. 2021 upset of then-champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 269. Peña was injured for a portion of last year, which led to Pennington earning a vacant title shot against Mayra Bueno Silva in January.

Despite No.3-ranked Harrison improving to 2-0 under the UFC banner with a unanimous decision against Ketlen Vieira, where she utilized her wrestling, ground-and-pound, and relentless pace to frustrate the Brazilian, it wasn't up to Peña's standards. In her in-Octagon post-fight interview, Peña called for a trilogy bout with Nunes, who defeated Peña in a rematch at UFC 277 in 2022. Nunes retired last summer after a win at UFC 289 against Irene Aldana, Peña's replacement.

After Peña won, she sent her message to Nunes on a side-by-side split screen with Harrison, who many in the MMA community believe is a shoo-in for a title shot in her next fight.

Alex Pereira Dismantles Khalil Rountree in Epic UFC 307 Showdown

Julianna Peña Rips Kayla Harrison's Clear Decision Win

"To be honest, I'll tell you, I was warming up warming up and focusing on my own fight," Peña said regarding if she watched Harrison win. "But, with that being said, I had my coaches there watching the fight [and] kind of giving me the 4-1-1 on what was going down. We're not impressed. She said she was gonna put an elbow through her skull, and she was gonna do all this damage. Like, the girl didn't have a scratch on her. It was boring, and she didn't do anything that jumped off the page like, 'Oh, the boogeyman.' You know what I mean? So I was definitely, especially hearing from my team, not impressed."

It remains uncertain what the UFC will do regarding the future of the women's bantamweight division, but for now, Peña's title reign takes priority.

UFC 307 Results: Alex Pereira vs. Rountree Live Highlights & Updates

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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