Juliana Pena says Kayla Harrison ducked Cris Cyborg fight

Things got heated at the recent press conference between current UFC Bantamweight Champion Juliana Pena and Kayla Harrison.  Pena who is a 2x UFC Bantamweight champion after defeating Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington will be facing Kayla Harrison at UFC 316 in her attempt to defend the belt for the first time.

Pena who is an Ultimate Fighter Champion and has wins over notable fighters such as Amanda Nunes, Raquel Pennington, Sara McMann, Cat Zingano, and Nicco Montano during her career. Kayla Harrison who is a 2x PFL Tournament champion and a 2x Olympic gold medalist is currently 18-1 in MMA and 2-0 in the UFC however is most notably known for ducking Cris Cyborg once the PFL had finally acquired Bellator MMA.  Kayla who was a free agent previously had used Bellator and the ‘Right to match’ clause in her PFL MMA deal to set an astronomical deal in place for a future Cris Cyborg fight.  Having negotiated to have the right to match removed from her new deal, Kayla was in a position to accept or decline the fight with Cyborg for a deal she had already negotiated.

Rather than extend her time to accomodate, the PFL/Bellator MMA mega show in Saudi Arabia, Kayla’s team elected to sign with the UFC.  With a win over Holly Holm and a competitive decision against Ketlen Vieira, Judo Kayla has finally earned her UFC shot, however Juliana Pena took note of the fact Kayla ran from the biggest fight which could be made in WMMA.