Kayla Harrison is ready to fight at UFC 307 — even if that means going for the title as a backup in a short-notice opportunity.
On the same night she’s scheduled to face Ketlen Vieira in Salt Lake City, Raquel Pennington is set to face Julianna Peña in the co-main event with Pennington’s bantamweight title going up for grabs. While she’s keeping her full focus on the Vieira fight, Harrison plans on staying ready just in case her services are needed as a backup for one of the championship competitors.
“That’s what I heard,” Harrison told MMA Fighting about serving as the backup for the co-main event. “I mean that’s what I’m planning. My mindset is Ketlen Vieira, whoop her ass and be prepared for the unknown.
“If I have to step in on short notice and fight, I will, absolutely. One thousand percent. On 30 seconds’ notice I will step [in]. Even after I fight Ketlen, if someone gets hurt in the back, I will still fight that fight.”
Backup fighters have become standard fare for the UFC, especially after the global pandemic left the promotion in a precarious position where a positive test for COVID could potentially wreck a title fight at the last minute.
Harrison immediately had that thought in mind after she was offered the matchup against Vieira on the same card where Pennington is defending her title against Peña.
While she certainly doesn’t wish ill will on either fighter competing in the co-main event, Harrison knows strange things happen and her services could be needed.
“This is fighting. We’re not playing around,” Harrison said. “When you spar, shit happens, ACLs get torn, things happen. So I’m prepared for a phone call at 3 a.m. from [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell], ‘Hey what’s up, can you lose an extra pound?’ You’re damn right I can!”
Cutting that extra pound wouldn’t be easy, but it’s a problem that Harrison had to solve before she even signed her contract to join the UFC roster.
After competing for her entire career at either 155 or 145 pounds, Harrison made major changes in her lifestyle to get down to the bantamweight limit so she could compete in the UFC.
Nothing came easy and Harrison has remained vigilant about every aspect of her health and nutrition to ensure she can safely make the weight as she continues her UFC career. It already paid off in her debut where Harrison tore through former champion Holly Holm inside two rounds at UFC 300.
“I live a very disciplined life,” Harrison said. “But I’m grateful for it. I’m grateful for the hard moments. It just kind of makes me more dangerous, more focused. It brings out the best version of me.
“It’s definitely not easy but that performance [against Holly Holm] really speaks volumes about the team that I have around me.”
Harrison acknowledged that staying on weight now requires so much more out of her than it ever did before but that’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make for her ultimate goal — becoming UFC champion.
“I’m at that point right now in camp where I’m told how much air I can breathe,” Harrison said with a smile. “How much water I drink. How many steps I take. Exactly how much I’m training. Macros, micros, everything is very well planned and orchestrated and it’s a process but the preparation and the performance inside the cage I owe to my team.”
As much as the talk leading into fight week likely surrounds Harrison’s future aspirations at winning UFC gold, she’s clear that nothing has stolen her focus away from the task at hand.
She’ll happily address the title, a potential short-notice fight against Pennington or Peña or whatever other subjects are raised, but deep down, Harrison is really only thinking about one thing.
“I mean I’m not overlooking Ketlen,” Harrison said. “She’s a beast. Tough, great fighter and I’m prepared for anything. I also think it’s so good that I’m going to be on the card with [Pennington and Peña] so if they do fight, the world can just see what a different level I’m about to be on.
“They’re just going to be like, ‘Oh, that girl didn’t fight for the title? What?’ It’s going to be good.”
