Six months later, Harrison returned to action in Salt Lake City and cemented herself as the No. 1 contender on the night the belt was on the line between Julianna Peña and Raquel Pennington. That night, Harrison faced Brazil’s Ketlen Vieira and picked up the win by unanimous decision. Even though it wasn’t the finish she was hoping for, Harrison was able to show off more of her skill set throughout a full 15 minutes at altitude.
Saturday’s Fight By Fight Preview
Peña looks to pick up her first title defense in her second reign as UFC bantamweight champion, after claiming her belt against Pennington in October. “The Venezuelan Vixen” first became champion when she upset Amanda Nunes in 2021, submitting her in the second-round. The two ran it back at UFC 277, where Nunes got her belt back after 25 minutes of action.
There’s certainly been a lot of words said between Peña and Harrison in the lead-up to this fight, and there’s no doubt there will be more spoken at the press conference later this week, but words can only do so much once the Octagon door closes. And with former bantamweight champion and future Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes set to be in attendance in Newark, both ladies are out to put on their best performance inside Prudential Center, especially Harrison, who is hungry to achieve her goal of becoming UFC champion and continuing to add to her already impressive career.
