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A key moment from Kayla Harrison's recent win against Julianna Pena at UFC 316 has drawn the ire of a legendary UFC referee. The controversy unfolded late in the first round as Harrison dominated Pena with her wrestling.
Pena threw two illegal upkicks from the bottom position that landed flush on Harrison’s face. Referee Vitor Araujo rightfully deducted a point, but then made a decision that raised questions. Instead of returning the fighters to the same position on the ground, Araujo restarted the action standing.
According to former UFC referee John McCarthy, this was a clear misstep. The fighter committing the foul should not be rewarded with a positional reset. In this case, Pena’s illegal kicks allowed her to escape bottom control, which could have changed the course of the fight.
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Speaking in a recent episode of the WEIGHING IN podcast, McCarthy said:
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"That you can look at when she was on the ground, she kicked up. The point taken was the right thing to do by Araujo, but it was the wrong thing to put them in a standing position. You had a bottom fighter foul the person on top. That means the bottom fighter goes back to being on the bottom. They don’t get out of a position by fouling. What the f**k is wrong with people?"
He added:
"Absolutely [he should have taken the point]. She got kicked to the face twice while on the ground. Absolutely he should have taken [a point]. Yeah, that’s exactly what she [Pena] told him [that the kicks weren't intentional]. I would have looked at her and said the same thing I say to every fighter. Yeah, my kids lie to me too."
Check out John McCarthy's comments below (22:50):
Julianna Pena issues statement after submission loss to Kayla Harrison at UFC 316
Julianna Pena shared a heartfelt message following her loss to Kayla Harrison at UFC 316. Though disappointed with the result, Pena showed sportsmanship in congratulating Harrison on the victory.
She also made it clear she is not done competing yet. This was her second loss in the last five octagon outings.
Pena took to Instagram to reach out to her fans, writing:
"Thank you to the fans who lifted me with your love and encouragement during this #fightcamp. I love you all and feel so grateful for all the support and energy you guys give me. It truly means the world! I'm sorry I wasn’t able to get the job done. I’m super disappointed but hats off to Kayla on her win! Time to get healed up and get ready for her next fight because I’m calling dibs on the winner!"
Check out Julianna Pena's Instagram post below:
