Former PFL champion and Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison will drop down to the bantamweight division to make her Octagon debut against former 135-pound titleholder Holly Holm as part of the UFC 300 pay-per-view (PPV) event, booked for Sat., April 13, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Defeating “The Preacher’s Daughter” is likely to land Harrison in the Top 5 of the women’s bantamweight division (see the updated Top 15 here). But don’t expect current 135-pound titleholder Raquel Pennington to be welcoming her with open arms, assuming “Rocky” can get past former champion Julianna Pena.
“Anything can change. I’m not opposed to it, but at the same time, I just don’t find that fair,” Pennington told The MMA Hour. “You have so many athletes — and I’m speaking on behalf of everybody because I’ve been that athlete for a long time. Nothing was ever handed to me. I had to work my way to the top the very hard way, time and time again. So it really frustrates me when other athletes come in and all of a sudden they jump the line.”
“There have been plenty of athletes that have been here a long time,” Pennington continued. “They’re busting their ass every single day, they’re trying to grind through each and every fight and build things for themselves and work their way to that opportunity, and I feel like she doesn’t deserve to just skip the line because she has a huge name behind her.”
UFC CEO Dana White had his eye on Harrison for several years and was finally able to get contracts signed earlier this year. Her performance against Holm will likely influence how the promotion books her after UFC 300 but a finish — complete with a fiery post-fight speech — may be the only thing Harrison needs to seal the deal.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
