Julianna Pena hasn’t given Kayla Harrison the warmest of welcomes to Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) roster.
UFC 300 was an unforgettable night for all involved. The former two-time Professional Fighters League (PFL) Lightweight champion, Harrison, in particular, picked up the biggest win of her mixed martial arts (MMA) career in her promotional debut. A second round rear-naked choke (watch highlights) against former Bantamweight champion, Holly Holm, couldn’t have gone any better for the two-time Olympic gold medalist in Judo.
Unfortunately for Harrison, another former champion, Pena, wasn’t too impressed and recently accused her of steroid use. Harrison, 34, gave an initial response to Pena but has now expanded on why it annoyed her.
“It pisses me off,” Harrison said on The MMA Hour. “Number one, it pisses me off because never once have I tested positive for anything, ever, in the history of my very long drug-testing career. And number two, don’t f*cking say things like that if you don’t have hard evidence. That’s a serious thing to talk about, to me. I take cheating very seriously.
“I have always competed clean, I carry myself to a high standard, and I know that I haven’t always competed against people who were clean, but I’m not going to throw accusations out just because I feel like I think they’re not clean,” she continued. “That’s bullsh*t, and I think it’s bullsh*t because she’s just building in an excuse for when I whoop her ass.
“So I’m annoyed by it, and at the same time, what a compliment,” Harrison concluded. “I’m 100 percent natty and you all think I’m on steroids. Because God forbid anyone ever work hard and be disciplined and have a great team around them and have results from that. God forbid anyone train from the time they were six years until the time they’re 34 years old and develop a physique that was built to beat the sh*t out of people. God forbid someone believe in themselves and work hard and succeed. It’s f*cked up. She’s got to be cheating!”
Harrison recalled her first time getting tested by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) came when she was 12 years old in middle school. Although she never had a test failure, Harrison noted that she had missed testers a time or two throughout her lifetime.
Pena, 34, has been sidelined since she lost her title in a rematch with the all-time great, Amanda Nunes, in July 2022 (watch highlights). Harrison has gone 3-1 in her four fights in that period (17-1 overall). The current champion, Raquel Pennington, doesn’t have her first title fight scheduled yet, but Harrison and Pena are atop the list of likeliest first challengers.
“I just don’t care anymore,” Harrison said of steroid claims. “I know the truth and I’m happy with everything I’ve accomplished and I’m going to accomplish. And I’ll never fail a drug test. You know why? Because I don’t f*cking cheat.”