SALT LAKE CITY – Ketlen Vieira doesn’t think Kayla Harrison has been properly tested.
Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) meets two-time PFL lightweight champion Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) main card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Harrison is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka. She ran through Holly Holm in her octagon debut, and is oozing confidence ahead of UFC 307. Vieira however, doesn’t think Harrison’s hype is quite warranted just yet.
“As far as Kayla, listen: It carries a good name in judo,” Vieira told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC 307 media day. “I do believe that she hasn’t been proven in MMA.
“A lot of people tend to confuse things, and I think she has not proven herself. She’s had one fight right now (in the UFC). I feel really prepared about this and I think this is the time. I feel confident that this is the fight that will take me to the title shot.”
Harrison said she thinks she can beat bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington, title challenger Julianna Peña, and Vieira all in one night. Vieira thinks she’s delusional.
“I think she needs to pinch herself or somebody needs to pinch her to see if she’s dreaming or something, because I just don’t understand where this is coming from,” Vieira said. “I think she’s an athlete that’s so dependent specifically on the ground game.
“But listen, I can strike with the best. I’m not sure she can do something like that. I have wrestled against someone who has an Olympic medal. I’ve done jiu-jitsu with the best. I think that I do all those things. I don’t think she can.”
Harrison is heavily being touted as the next title challenger if she gets past Vieira. The Brazilian expects the same treatment.
“I think I’ve been on the cusp of this for such a long time, and I’ve been in this position for quite some time,” Vieira said. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity, it just never happened. I fought Sara (McMann) coming off of three wins, and I thought after this, I’m fighting for a title. I didn’t get that.
“(I) fought Cat Zingano, who beat Amanda Nunes, and thought, ‘Well this is for a title shot.’ It never happened again. It’s been since 2018 that I’ve been at this, just battling for it, and I believe everything happens for a reason. There’s not my time – it’s God’s time, and things are happening because they need to happen.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
