Kayla Harrison says Julianna Peña is “Avoiding the inevitable” by calling for Amanda Nunes trilogy

UFC bantamweight contender Kayla Harrison is already preparing for Julianna Peña to find a way out of fighting her should she win the bantamweight belt at UFC 307.

Harrison faces Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307 this weekend in Salt Lake City. After a successful promotional debut at UFC 300 in April, Harrison could potentially earn a title shot with a win over Vieira.

But, Raquel Pennington will defend the belt against Peña, and not Harrison, at UFC 307. Pennington has already called Harrison a big fight for her legacy if she defeats Peña in their upcoming clash.

Meanwhile, Peña is targeting a trilogy bout with the retired Amanda Nunes with a win over Pennington. Harrison is concerned that Peña’s tendency for long competitive breaks could hinder her title chase.

Kayla Harrison weighs in on Julianna Peña’s planned UFC 307 callout

In a recent interview with CBS Sports‘s Shakiel Mahjouri, Harrison reacted to Peña’s planned callout target at UFC 307.

“I think that Julianna, if she wins this fight against Raquel, is probably gonna try to be inactive and push to have Amanda come back,” Harrison said. “She’s trying to avoid the inevitable, I wouldn’t want to fight me either, I get it. She’s calling out Amanda [Nunes], saying I’m on steroids…Julianna doesn’t have a win over someone in the Top 15 right now…

“What has she been doing? She’s had two years off, coming off a loss. Now she’s going to fight for the title and she’s been blessed with this gift. Her time is coming, and more importantly, my time is coming. I’ll be prepared for when it does and I hope she is too.”

Harrison defeated former titleholder Holly Holm at UFC 300 in April. Peña returns to the Octagon for the first time since a loss to Nunes at UFC 277.

Harrison and Peña could potentially be on a collision course, depending on how things play out this weekend. But, Nunes continues to cast a shadow over the division despite her UFC 289 retirement.