Should Kayla Harrison’s first UFC title fight come in the interim variety, one fellow contender has thrown her name into the hat.
Harrison staked her claim for a championship opportunity with a 2-0 debut year in the UFC, which saw her submit former champion Holly Holm and defeat Ketlen Vieira on the scorecards.
Her win over the Brazilian came on the same card that saw Julianna Peña return to the throne at Raquel Pennington’s expense, seemingly setting up their showdown for 2025.
But should recent remarks from Harrison’s manager prove to be true, the two-time Olympic gold medalist may have some work to do before facing “The Venezuelan Vixen.”
“This is what I was being told. Julianna Peña, if she’s not ready to fight Kayla, she might have some health problem, it’s going to be an interim title,” Ali Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “Hundred percent this is what’s going to happen. And the UFC is just not going to hold the division because somebody don’t want to fight or are injured.”
And in terms of who an interim title fight could come against, Norma Dumont evidently sees herself as the only logical choice.
“I hope they don’t accept a fight for the interim belt with an athlete who is coming off a defeat to Julianna. I am the athlete with the longest streak in the (weight class) and the only one who has the physical and technical capacity to overcome it, Dumont was quoted as saying by Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight. “And you know it! So we’re going to have a really interesting fight for the bantamweight (interim title).”
Dumont has risen to #4 in the rankings courtesy of two straight wins since returning to bantamweight. After getting the better of former champ Germaine de Randamie, the 34-year-old most recently outpointed Irene Aldana at the Sphere-held UFC 306 pay-per-view.
