Kayla Harrison was seen at UFC 269 supporting his training partner Amanda Nunes. This led to rumors about her joining the promotion. Julianna Pena defeated Amanda Nunes to become the women’s bantamweight champion.
Recently, the champ sat down with Joe Rogan in his podcast the Joe Rogan Experience talking about Harrison’s probable UFC fight against her and Nunes. Rogan questioned how Pena feels about the potential fight against Nunes if Amanda beats Pena in their rematch. To this Pena responded saying:
“How dare they. Because Kayla is talking about how she is training partners with Amanda and she learns so much from Amanda and how amazing Amanda is as a training partner and how she has learned so much from the champ. So, I am confused, you want Amanda to win so that you can fight your friend?”
Rightly so, Amanda and Harrison are quite close to each other. They even trained together for Nunes’ fight at UFC 269. However, now that Nunes has left ATT and started her own gym both of them sparring together seems quite unlikely.
Julianna Pena is ready to fight Kayla Harrison given appropriate pay:
Rogan then questioned that the reason Kayla wants the fight against Nunes is that that might give her a big paycheque. Moreover, it might be the biggest fight of the history of women’s MMA, considering the level of fighters they both are. Julianna was quick enough to respond to this as she stated:
“She is getting paid millions she is getting paid more than I am getting paid…Who needs enemies with friends like these”
However, if Kayla wants to come to UFC and fight Pena she is all ready for it.
“But, if Kayla wants to come over to UFC and make weight then pack your lunch. 135-45 whatever you guys wanna do…Just pay me. I will fight whoever you want. I feel like I’m not asking too much, especially now that I am a champion.”
Harrison, while talking to MMA Junkie she once said: “Fighting Amanda, it was something I wanted…it’s such a weird thing,…Like, I don’t want to fight her, but I want to fight her. I’m in a position where I want to be the best, she’s the best. It’s not personal, it’s just business”
But, now that Pena has beaten Nunes, she feels Harrison should root for Pena to win. So, that she won’t have to fight her training partner in order to do “business”