When it was revealed that Kayla Harrison would not be challenging for the UFC bantamweight title next time out, her goal became very clear.
At UFC 307, she will fight Ketlen Vieira on the same night that Raquel Pennington defends the title against Julianna Peña.
If Harrison is able to go out there and put on a dominant performance like she did on her Octagon debut at UFC 300, there will be no denying that she is next for the winner of the co-main event.
The former PFL star is raring to go with dreams of becoming a UFC champion seemingly now within her reach.
There is one potential issue with her plan and that involves hearing "and new" on October 5, in Salt Lake City.
Kayla Harrison Says Juliana Peña Taking Time Off As Champion Would Be Frustrating For Her
Harrison has made it pretty clear that though the belt is her main objective, beating Peña for it would be an added incentive following their back-and-forth comments in recent times.
In a recent interview with Kevin Iole, it was mentioned that if Peña does win the bantamweight title back, it could be a while before we see her defend it.
"The Venezuelan Vixen" hasn't fought in over two years and has never been the most active fighter on the roster to begin with.
Harrison said that though she doesn't want to waste her energy thinking about a problem that is out of her hands, it would be very frustrating for her if she has to wait for Peña to defend the belt.
I try not to [think about the long breaks] because control what you can control and trust the UFC, trust that they have a plan but yeah, that would really p*** me off. I'm looking to stay active so hopefully... all is well, I can't control it. It's out of my hands but yeah.