Daniel Cormier: Julianna Peña 'dropped the ball' by not calling out Kayla Harrison after UFC 307
Daniel Cormier thinks Julianna Pena should have addressed Kayla Harrison after UFC 307.
Peña (13-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) defeated Raquel Pennington (16-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) by split decision to reclaim the bantamweight title in Saturday’s co-main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Earlier in the night, Harrison became No. 1 contender when she defeated Ketlen Vieira.
As Peña was speaking to Joe Rogan post fight in the octagon, a camera showed Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) listening in. But instead of mentioning Harrison’s name, Peña called for a trilogy bout with Amanda Nunes, which Cormier says was a mistake.
“I will say this: She dropped the ball on the callout,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I mean, Kayla’s on the screen. Say her name. Why no-sell the person that is clearly going to be your No. 1 contender? There is no world where she does not fight Kayla Harrison. She’s fighting her next.
“You might as well put the sell on it right now. Don’t wait until the fight is announced. Now you’re a step behind when you had the opportunity to be a step ahead going into your fight with Kayla Harrison, who will be the No. 1 contender for your championship as we go forward.”
Harrison was tested by Vieira, who made her taste blood for the first time in her MMA career. Peña later said she wasn’t impressed with Harrison’s performance, but Cormier thinks Harrison failing to completely dominate should have encouraged Peña to build the fight.
“Tonight, it’s not like Kayla Harrison looked the best,” Cormier said. “Kayla’s looked better. Tonight, she looked like a girl that needs to get takedowns and if she doesn’t, she is still in the very early stages of her striking.
“So Julianna Peña should’ve, after this performance, been more willing to say her name. At the end of the day, she becomes the champion again and Mike Valle and his team out at Valle Flow now have two UFC champions on their roster – massive for a gym out of Chicago that isn’t a massive, huge gym.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.