Newly-minted undisputed bantamweight champion, Raquel Pennington remains unsold on the ability of Kayla Harrison to turn her dominance in the PFL (Professional Fighters League) to the Octagon ahead of her landing at UFC 300 – claiming the Ohio native may be in for a rude awakening in the organization.
Pennington, the newly-crowned undisputed bantamweight titleholder, co-headlined UFC 297 earlier this month in Canada, landing a one-sided unanimous decision win over Brazilian challenger, Mayra Bueno Silva in the pair’s vacant title affair.
As for Harrison, the former two-time PFL lightweight tournament victor and two-time Olympic gold medal winner in Judo, became the latest acquisition of the Dana White-led promotion last week, penning a multi-fight deal with the organization.
And booked for her debut, Harrison will attempt to make the bantamweight limit for the first time in her mixed martial arts run, taking on former division champion, Holly Holm in a high-stakes clash at UFC 300.
Raquel Pennington unsure of Kayla Harrison ahead of UFC 300
However, as far as the newly-minted titleholder, Pennington is concerned, Harrison – who has been widely backed to land spoils in the promotion if she can successfully make a bantamweight run, could be in for a rather eye-opening outing in the UFC.
“She (Kayla Harrison) has a huge hype following her and whatnot,” Raquel Pennington old Unlocking The Cage during a recent interview. “But I think that she’s going to be exposed a little bit. I feel like she hasn’t truly been challenged in the PFL.”
Boasting a 16-1 professional record, in her sole professional loss, Harrison dropped a decision loss to three-time foe, Larissa Pacheco – having twice beating the Brazilian in lightweight tournament wins previously.
In her most recent outing last year, Harrison landed a unanimous decision win over former UFC bantamweight contender, Aspen Ladd at PFL 10 in Washington.
Do you expect Kayla Harrison to make good on her landing at UFC 300?