Kayla Harrison tasted her own blood for the first time in her MMA career in the UFC 307 main card opener against Ketlen Vieira.
Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) stepped into the octagon at Delta Center in Salt Lake City for her sophomore UFC appearance and dominated Vieira (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) when the fight hit the ground to win a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Harrison started the fight patiently but still controlled the action from the center. Harrison’s first clinch didn’t go anywhere, which boded well for Vieira’s prospects of keeping the fight upright. However, the second attempt to get the fight to the ground was a clean takedown, leading to heavy ground and pound strikes with less than a minute to go.
The horn sounded to signal the end of Round 1 with Harrison smashing Vieira on the ground.
The pair engaged on the feet for the first half of Round 2 before Harrison began to look for a takedown. The clinch work against the fence produced a few nasty short strikes, including a vicious elbow from Vieira that opened a cut and caused swelling.
HEMATOMA ON KAYLA #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/FAAMWv8hy6
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 6, 2024
The action stalled, prompting referee Marc Goddard to separate the two for the final moments of the round.
With the fight potentially tied going into Round 3, Harrison came out with a few aggressive strikes to set the tone. Harrison closed in and got the fight to the ground with a nice bodylock takedown with just under three minutes remaining and went to work with ground and pound.
Harrison dominated the remainder of the fight until the final horn, when she then helped her opponent to her feet, showing respect for one another.
TITLE SHOT NEXT FOR KAYLA HARRISON #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/FHQzLr71LB
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 6, 2024
“You’re the first person to make me bleed!” Harrison told Vieira while hugging after Bruce Buffer read the official decision.
During her post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Harrison didn’t mince words when asked about a potential title shot in her next appearance.
“Ladies, enjoy it while you can, because the queen is home, and she’s coming for that f*cking gold!”
Harrison improves to 2-0 in the UFC, and is likely next in line for a shot at the women’s bantamweight title, which is on the line later on the card in the co-main bout between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Pena.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 307 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.
