Former PFL champion Kayla Harrison is a bit disappointed with Julianna Peña, but she is far from angry with her.
UFC bantamweight Julianna Peña has had a lot to say about Harrison in recent times. This is not the fighter’s first rodeo, as she has exchanged words with almost every opponent she’s faced. Peña has called out Ronda Rousey for her “fat arms” and called Amanda Nunes irrelevant. Now, she’s taking a swing at Kayla Harrison.
For a couple of months, “The Venezuelan Vixen” has constantly trashed Harrison in the media and at press conferences every chance she gets. She accused Harrison of cheating and abusing steroids during her career. Despite these spiteful remarks, Harrison doesn’t take it personally as she tries to understand the constant verbal barrage coming her way.
“I think it just, for me, it kind of screams insecurity,” Harrison told MMA Fighting. “When I see her talk or when I hear some of the stuff she says, I feel like it’s fear. And it’s not personal for me. She can say whatever she wants about me. At the end of the day, we get locked in a cage, and that’s where I’m gonna do my talking.
“I think that that’s just who she is. I think that’s part of her shtick, you know, like, she’s the same way with me that she was with Amanda [Nunes]. She always is kind of yapping. So I think that’s just her personality. And I just feel bad that she lives life that way. Sounds like a terrible existence.”
“It’s just like she’s kind of always throwing spaghetti at the wall,” Harrison said. “Before I signed with UFC, it was like, Well, if she wants to be in a real promotion, she has to make a real weight, and 135 is where it’s at.’ And so then I signed with the UFC and I cut down to 135 pounds, and now I’m a weight bully, but that’s the only weight class they have. It’s not my choice, and the steroids thing is just like—again—it’s funny to me.”
The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo remains unfazed by these cheating comments, as she believes she may have endured more drug tests throughout her combat sports career than anybody else on the UFC roster.
“I’ve never taken steroids. I got drug tested for the first time when I was in middle school because that was when I was in the top five on the national roster for judo. And so that’s when the U.S. sort of started testing, and I’ve been tested… I mean, I’ve been tested probably more than any athlete in the UFC. One time, I got tested four times in a month—between WADA, the tournaments I went to and competed at, I got tested there, and then I got tested when I got home. So she can say whatever she wants, but I know I’m clean, and again, I work really, really f*cking hard.
“I didn’t look like this when I competed in judo because I was 170 pounds. It’s a lot of discipline, and I have a really good team around me who fuel me properly, and I’m proud of it. I’m proud of my body of work, and I’m proud of everything I’ve accomplished clean, and there’ll never be a blemish on that because I’ve never taken anything. I was afraid to take Flintstone Vitamins when I started getting drug tested at 12. So my whole life, you know when you drive by a cop and you’re not speeding but you automatically [slow down]? I’ve had that feeling [of], ‘Oh, you know what, I better not take any supplements.’ I’ve had that [feeling] my whole life.”
Harrison will challenge Peña for the bantamweight title in the UFC 316 co-main event in June 7, 2025 inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
