UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison has hit back at Demetrious Johnson over his reaction to the UFC 332 main event between Natalia Silva and Wang Cong, accusing the MMA legend of undermining the growth of women’s MMA.
Silva defeated Cong by unanimous decision to claim the vacant UFC women’s flyweight title after Valentina Shevchenko vacated the belt earlier this year. However, the matchup attracted criticism from fans, pundits and fellow fighters who questioned the UFC’s decision to place the two flyweights at the top of the card.
Before UFC 332, Johnson and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya discussed the event on their podcast. When their producer mentioned Silva vs. Cong as the main event, the two fighters burst into laughter, appearing to question the UFC’s decision to headline the card with the flyweight contest.
Their reaction did not sit well with Harrison, who has previously clashed with Johnson over his advice that she retire rather than fight Amanda Nunes.
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Harrison called out Johnson’s attitude and defended the UFC’s decision to give Silva and Cong the main-event spotlight.
“I’m just kind of over [Johnson’s] attitude, I’m over it,” Harrison said.“This mindset of scarcity is detrimental to the growth of the sport. There’s enough room at the table for all of us to eat, and we don’t have to belittle or poke fun or put down anyone else in order to build our own brand. Of course, those girls are not stars yet. But do you know how you build a star? You f—— put them in the main event, and you build them…”
Harrison continued to criticize Johnson’s comments, insisting that the reaction was unnecessary.
“To talk s— about them like that, I just feel it is unnecessary,” Harrison continued on Johnson’s comments. “Super unnecessary.”
Harrison’s criticism of Johnson also stems from his previous comments about her upcoming showdown with Nunes.
Before the UFC announced the matchup, Johnson advised Harrison to retire rather than face the former two-division champion, raising questions about whether the reigning bantamweight titleholder could beat the Brazilian legend.
Harrison has since made it clear that she disagrees with Johnson’s assessment. She also believes his criticism of Silva and Cong reflects an attitude that does little to help the sport grow.
The champion is now preparing for one of the biggest fights of her career. Harrison will face Nunes in the co-main event of UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14, marking her first title defense since winning the bantamweight championship at UFC 316.
