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Kayla Harrison put on a solid if not spectacular performance at UFC 307, beating Ketlen Viera via unanimous decision in the opening match of the event’s pay-per-view.
Given the hype surrounding the two-time Olympic judo gold medalist, many expected Harrison to buzzsaw her way through Viera like she did with Holly Holm. So it was something of a disappointment seeing her struggle and fail to hit the gear needed to put her opponent away.
For her part, Viera clearly came in with a good understanding of what was needed to give Harrison fits. She stymied Kayla’s offense and managed to get a couple good licks in as well, bloodying the American Top Team product.
Following the bout, Harrison was blunt in her assessment of the fight.
“It just wasn’t the performance I was hoping for,” she told ESPN’s Megan Olivi. “I just felt a little flat tonight. Couldn’t string some stuff together. A little bit frustrated with my performance. You know, my team makes a lot of sacrifices. Everyone really puts in a lot of effort in order for me to to be here. So I just I feel like I let them down a little bit.”
“It more just being able to just kinda opening up and unleashing,” she said on what wasn’t working. “For whatever reason, I wasn’t able to do that tonight as much as I want to. I know I’m my own harshest critic, but I have to be the best on my worst day.”
Harrison admitted the Salt Lake City altitude may have played a part in a lull that led her to getting split open by Viera.
“I really didn’t think it was gonna [be an issue], but I think in the second round, I don’t know if it was an adrenaline dump, if I was feeling a little bit of nerves or what. But I definitely didn’t feel as sharp as I normally feel. And it’s weird because I’ve been feeling great. We came out early. I was feeling great in the training.”
“Who knows? Maybe I just ate too much today. I don’t know.”
Regardless, Harrison is expected to fight for the women’s bantamweight title next against new champ Juliana Pena. We expect that to go down in the next six months, but Kayla was asked if she’d hypothetically wait a year for Pena to be ready.
“I would fight,” she declared. “When you’re the best in the world, you’re the best in the world. It doesn’t matter. I’m the uncrowned queen. If I have the belt, if I don’t have the belt, I’m still the best in the world. So I’d fight. I don’t care who it is. Fill in the blank. I mean that when I say it. I don’t think that there’s anybody in the world that will beat me.”