"I think I was wrong" - Kayla Harrison admits change of heart on Julianna Pena but rules out rematch

Kayla Harrison (right) talks about Julianna Pena (left). [Image courtesy: Getty]
Kayla Harrison (right) talks about Julianna Pena (left). [Image courtesy: Getty]

Kayla Harrison recently opened up about her rivalry with Julianna Pena, implying that she is ready to bury the hatchet. However, the UFC women's bantamweight champion dismissed facing Pena in a rematch.

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Prior to their title fight in the co-main event of UFC 316 earlier this year, Harrison and Pena traded barbs on social media and in various interviews. Notably, 'The Venezuelan Vixen' accused Harrison of using steroids and launched several jabs at the former PFL superstar. However, Harrison put on a dominant wrestling performance and submitted Pena with a kimura at the end of the second round.

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Harrison voiced her desire to reconcile with Pena:

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''I definitely said that I wouldn’t be friends with her but I think I was wrong. I’m woman enough to admit when I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong. Sharing that prayer was really powerful. I just wanted to go pray for her but when she prayed for me, that was a really telling moment for me. Like she’s a sportswoman. She sold this fight. She did what she had to do and I respect that. Actually, I had a lot of fun, too. It’s definitely the most trash talk and the most tension I’ve ever really had in a fight and I enjoyed that. I had fun. I think she’s cool. She’s legit. I’m cool with Julianna.''
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Furthermore, Harrison prefers to defend her 135-pound gold against new contenders in the division rather than face Pena again:

''I mean I don’t think so...I think she’s 2-2 in her last four or 3-3 in her last six, something like that. I think she’s got to go back to the drawing board and get some wins. There’s also a whole division, there’s a lot of young, hungry killers coming up. We’ll see. I’ll fight whoever they want me to fight but in my heart, I don’t think that we’ll fight again.''
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Check out Kayla Harrison's comments below:

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Kayla Harrison talks about a potential fight with ex-UFC champion

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Kayla Harrison expressed her wish to fight former double champion Amanda Nunes, who entered the cage and engaged in a face-off with Harrison following her title win at UFC 316.

Harrison is optimistic about her highly anticipated clash against Nunes:

''I have had the conversations with my coaches about how long do we wait...I'm pretty sure (the Nunes fight is) going to happen. From everything I hear, she's ready to go, she wants to fight, I want to fight. We're just waiting on the details."

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Edited by Swagat Kumar Jena
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