Kayla Harrison no longer trains with Amanda Nunes on a daily basis, but she knows her former teammate well enough to recognize the performance Nunes had against Julianna Pena in their first encounter was wildly out of character.
While Nunes had her moments, she began running out of steam after the first round, and Pena’s perseverance allowed the Ultimate Fighter champion to weather an early storm and then completely shift the momentum in her favor in the second round. The end result was Pena tapping out Nunes to become UFC bantamweight champion.
Now they will meet again at Saturday’s UFC 277 main show — Harrison anticipates a different result in this rematch.
“I obviously don’t train with Amanda anymore so I don’t know how camp has gone, I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s so talented, she’s so seasoned,” Harrison told MMA Fighting.
” I think she learned from her mistake. I think it was just a fluke, to be honest. It’s not possible for it to go back the way it is now. I can’t. It’s hard to believe. I don’t know, but if I were going to bet, I’d bet on Amanda.”
Of course, Harrison was there with Nunes after the defeat to Pena. She understands just how good Nunes can be at her very best.
Harrison has also had some fiery exchanges with Pena in the past, but that won’t stop the two-time PFL champion from offering her praise for a job well done.
” I have nothing against Julianna,” Harrison stated. Harrison said, “She is another one who talks a lot, and you have to do something for it to be understood. We’ll just have to wait and see. We fight for our rights. It’s possible to become the victim of your success [when it comes to Amanda].
” What I believe happened was that she pressured Amanda and Amanda said, “I’ll just knock it out,” and Julianna was tough. She is a tough woman. She’s tough. That is something I admire. That’s what I love about her .”
Harrison believes that this is what led to Nunes’ defeat in the first fight. Pena refused to give up, even though she was faced with great adversity.
Prior to the loss, Nunes had basically steamrolled all her 12 competitors in a row, except for a couple of fights against Valentina Shevchenko. Harrison thinks that it might have backfired on her, as Pena wasn’t able to fade in those first exchanges.
Harrison does not expect Nunes will make the same error again.
“When [Peña] didn’t go down, I think that maybe surprised Amanda a little bit,” Harrison said. “When she kept coming, I think that surprised Amanda a little bit. But she won’t be surprised this time.
“She won’t make the same mistake twice. She’s not going to take her lightly. We will see their adaptations. I’m very excited for that fight.”
