Kicking off the main card of UFC 307 this past weekend was a pivotal matchup in the women’s bantamweight division that was being looked at as a title eliminator. Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and former PFL champion Kayla Harrison (18-1) took on second ranked Ketlen Vieira (14-4).
Harrison ran through Holly Holm in her octagon debut back in April so there were expectations that she’d do the same to Vieira. In the first round, Harrison was able to land a beautiful takedown and controlled Vieira on the ground. Harrison’s ground and pound is the best in the division by far and she landed some big shots.
However, she struggled with distance and really couldn’t get Vieira down in the second. The Brazilian took the second round and caused a big hematoma above the eye of Harrison with a brutal elbow. Harrison was able to get the fight back down in the third and again, she dominated the round. In the end, it was a clear decision win for Harrison at UFC 307.
What’s next after UFC 307?
Going into Saturday night, it was made clear that whoever won between Harrison and Vieira would be next in line for the bantamweight title. After Julianna Pena defeated Raquel Pennington following a very questionable decision, they even did a split-screen with Pena and Kayla Harrison who was watching in the back.
However, Pena didn’t call out Harrison. Instead, she no-sold Harrison and called for a trilogy with Amanda Nunes. Nunes has been teasing a UFC return and it seems that the greatest of all time is ready to return to the octagon after retiring last year. Pena has always wanted that fight after Nunes obliterated her in their second fight.
I think Harrison’s next fight will be for the title, but I don’t know if she’ll fight Pena next. Harrison needs time off to recover from the weight cut. She apparently was hospitalized a week before the fight due to the weight cut. It takes everything for her to get down to the UFC’s bantamweight limit.
If Pena is wanting to fight sooner than later and Nunes is ready to come back, I could see the trilogy being first with Harrison facing the winner. However, if Nunes wants more time and Harrison can turn around quicker than expected, then I would expect the next fight to be Julianna Pena against Kayla Harrison.