Kayla Harrison News

Chris Taylor - June 7, 2025

Tonight’s UFC 316 event was co-headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Kayla Harrison and Julianna Pena. Pena (12-6 MMA) recaptured the promotion’s bantamweight title in her most previous effort this past October at UFC 307, scoring a controversial split decision victory over Raquel Pennington. Prior that the win, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ had suffered a lopsided decision loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 277.

Chris Taylor - June 7, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC 316 results, including the women’s bantamweight title fight between Julianna Pena and Kayla Harrison. Pena (12-6 MMA) recaptured the promotion’s bantamweight title this past October at UFC 307, scoring a controversial split decision victory over Raquel Pennington. Prior that the win, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ had suffered a lopsided decision loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 277.

Chris Taylor - June 7, 2025

The Octagon returns to New Jersey for tonight’s UFC 316 event, a 13-bout fight card headlined by Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2. Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA) will be competing for the first time since scoring his first successful title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov at January’s UFC 311 event in California. ‘The Machine’ will enter this evening’s headliner sporting a 12-fight winning streak, which includes victories over former UFC champions Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo and Jose Aldo.

BJ Penn Staff - June 6, 2025

Kayla Harrison is on weight for her first UFC title fight. Harrison, a former Olympic gold medalist in judo is set to challenge Julianna Peña for bantamweight gold in the main event of Saturday night’s UFC 316 card in Newark, New Jersey. On Friday morning, she stepped onto the scale to weigh in, and for the first time in career, hit the 135-pound limit for bantamweight title fights.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 6, 2025

The UFC 316 weigh-ins have concluded, and fans are happy to know that the marquee matches remain intact. On Friday, all competitors scheduled for the UFC 316 card in Newark tipped the scales. That includes the UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili, who was actually one pound under the championship limit at 134 pounds. His rematch with Sean O’Malley is official, as the “Suga” show also made weight, clocking in at 135 pounds.

Cole Shelton - June 5, 2025

In the co-main event of UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, the women’s bantamweight title is up for grabs as Julianna Pena defends her belt against Kayla Harrison. Heading into the fight, Pena is a massive +450 underdog while the challenger is a -720 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap at UFC 316, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the women’s bantamweight title fight. The pros expect Harrison to become the new champ, but many fighters think it will be a much closer fight than the odds suggest.

Harry Kettle - June 5, 2025

Kayla Harrison has given her thoughts on the trash talk being thrown her way from UFC 316 opponent Julianna Pena. On Saturday night, Kayla Harrison will finally get her shot at winning UFC gold. She will challenge for the women’s bantamweight championship in the co-main event of UFC 316, and she’ll do so against Julianna Pena – someone who has had more than a few things to say about her recently.

BJ Penn Staff - June 3, 2025

Kayla Harrison is in incredible shape ahead of her first bid at UFC gold — not that it’s any surprise. Harrison is a former Olympic gold medalist in judo, and entered the MMA limelight as a multiple-time PFL champion at lightweight. After parting ways with the PFL, she signed with the UFC last year, with plans to compete at bantamweight. She won her first two fights with the promotion, first stopping former champ Holly Holm, and later beating Ketlen Vieira by decision. Those wins put her in position for a title shot against Julianna Peña — though many fans feel she deserved the opportunity right out of the gate.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 25, 2025

Kayla Harrison’s manager believes Julianna Pena is in for a rough night at UFC 316. Harrison is scheduled to challenge Pena for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship in the co-main event of UFC 316 on June 7. It’ll be Harrison’s first crack at UFC gold. Pena will look for her first successful title defense in her second reign.

Harry Kettle - May 15, 2025

MMA legend Cris Cyborg believes that UFC contender Kayla Harrison ran away from a potential superfight against her. As we know, Cris Cyborg is easily one of the greatest female fighters of this or any other generation. Her impact on mixed martial arts has been incredible and even at this advanced stage in her career, it still feels like she’s got a lot left in the tank. Alas, while we were able to see Cris get the opportunity to face Amanda Nunes, we haven’t seen her take on other dream opponents such as Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison.

Harry Kettle - May 7, 2025

UFC champion Julianna Pena has accused Kayla Harrison of using steroids as the countdown to their UFC 316 fight continues. As we know, Julianna Pena is a pretty controversial figure when it comes to MMA fans. While she’s a two-time bantamweight world champion in the UFC, she has a tendency to rattle people with some of the comments she makes. It’s often because she’s trying to get under the skin of her opponents, and that’s certainly the case with her upcoming UFC 316 clash with Kayla Harrison.

Harry Kettle - April 23, 2025

UFC star Kayla Harrison has given her thoughts on Amanda Nunes potentially returning to mixed martial arts. Over the course of the last few years, Kayla Harrison has been on a path to greatness. In addition to her success in PFL, she’s been solid since arriving in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Now, she has her sights set on finally claiming gold as she prepares to collide with Julianna Pena for the bantamweight title.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 15, 2025

Amanda Nunes appears to be heading for a return to the Octagon at some point, and she’d prefer to fight Kayla Harrison. Nunes retired from pro MMA competition after scoring a unanimous decision victory over Irene Aldana on June 10, 2023. Just 10 days later, the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship was vacated. The current titleholder is Nunes’ old foe Julianna Pena.

Harry Kettle - April 9, 2025

UFC star Kayla Harrison has admitted that she wants to be able to respect her upcoming UFC 316 opponent Julianna Pena. At UFC 316 later this year, Kayla Harrison will attempt to become a UFC world champion. She’ll do so by locking horns with Julianna Pena, a woman who she’s been linked with fighting for a long time now. When you take a look at the current state of women’s mixed martial arts, you could probably argue that this is one of the most intriguing – and certainly important – fights that can be made right now.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 8, 2025

Kayla Harrison has her first UFC title bout set, and she’s made quite the admission. Harrison is scheduled to challenge Julianna Pena for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship at UFC 316. The championship clash will be held inside the Prudential Center in Newark on June 7. With a pro MMA record of 18-1 and UFC wins over Ketlen Vieira and Holly Holm, the general consensus is that Harrison has unquestionably earned her title opportunity.

Josh Evanoff - March 21, 2025

With Julianna Pena on the shelf, Norma Dumont wants an interim UFC title fight against Kayla Harrison. It’s not exactly a secret that the UFC women’s bantamweight division has slowed to a crawl. Since 2022, there have been just four fights for 135-pound gold. Last October in Salt Lake City, Julianna Pena earned her second run with the title, scoring a controversial split-decision win over Raquel Pennington. Post-fight, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ called for a longshot trilogy bout against the still-retired Amanda Nunes. However, talks quickly shifted to Kayla Harrison.

Josh Evanoff - March 4, 2025

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena doesn’t care about the odds ahead of her fight against Kayla Harrison. ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ has been out of the cage since her title fight against Raquel Pennington last October. In the co-main event of UFC 307, Julianna Pena ended a two-year layoff to hand ‘Rocky’ a split-decision loss. In the process, she re-won the same gold she lost to Amanda Nunes in their rematch.

Josh Evanoff - January 3, 2025

If Julianna Pena can’t fight, Norma Dumont wants to face Kayla Harrison for interim UFC gold. The UFC’s women’s bantamweight division is in a bit of a weird spot. Amanda Nunes famously vacated the gold in the summer of 2023, retiring following a decision win over Irene Aldana. A few months later, Raquel Pennington claimed the gold with a unanimous decision victory over Mayra Bueno Silva, in a dismal bout.