Kayla Harrison continued her incredible career in combat sports when completed the feat of becoming the UFC women’s bantamweight champion at UFC 316.
This Saturday, the UFC returned to Newark, New Jersey for UFC 316 with a title fight double header headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.
The co-main event saw Julianna Pena attempt to defend her women’s bantamweight title against Kayla Harrison, who worried UFC fans when she made 135lbs for the first time in her career on Friday.
Ahead of their clash, Pena and Harrison have been involved in a longstanding feud, which on several occasions has turned bitter, with Pena accusing the Olympic gold medalist of steroid use multiple times.
Kayla Harrison dominates Julianna Pena to become the UFC champion
After months of bad blood between the two dominant females, the UFC 316 co-main event was almost guaranteed to be an incredible clash.
Early on in the fight, Harrison showcased that she is comfortable fighting under pressure under the brightest lights, putting pressure on ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ immediately.
Just over midway through round one, Harrison landed a takedown on the champion and looked to control her on the ground before advancing her position and landing some heavy ground-and-pound.
Things took an unfortunate turn for Pena when she landed three consecutive up kicks on the chin of a downed Harrison, resulting in an immediate point deduction.
With her back against the wall, Pena knew she had to come out in round two and land some heavy shots on the challenger but things went from bad to worse.
Harrison landed another takedown near the end of the round and subsequently locked in a kimura, resulting in a tap from Pena.
Harrison faces of with Amanda Nunes as her next fight is confirmed
On the lead up to the women’s bantamweight title fight, the stakes were raised when former champion Amanda Nunes announced she would make her comeback against the winner of the fight.
Immediately after the fight and becoming the new champion, Harrison was faced with her likely next opponent, when ‘The Lioness’ leaped from her seat on the front row and made her way into the cage.
“I see you, Amanda. Come on up, Amanda! Come on! This is the next fight!” Harrison invited Nunes into the cage.
“Let’s do it! Yes (I’m coming back), we knew this was going to happen… Now we’re gonna do it,” Nunes replied as the two faced off for the first time.
With Nunes’ comeback confirmed, Harrison will likely take a few months off to recover from a brutal weight cut before booking her long awaited fight against the consensus greatest female fighter of all time.