Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison Title Fight Announced For UFC 316 Co-Main Event

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena will attempt to defend the belt against Kayla Harrison in the co-main event of UFC 316 in New Jersey on June 7th.

The 35-year-old Pena had previously held the title back in 2021 after a shock upset win over long-reigning champion Amanda Nunes. However, Pena then suffered a unanimous decision loss to Nunes in their rematch the following year.

Pena was then out of action for well over two years before finally returning for another title opportunity, beating Raquel Pennington by split-decision at UFC 307 last October to reclaim the belt.

Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Harrison was an exciting and long-awaited addition to the UFC ranks last year, having already been considered one of the sport’s leading female fighters.

Harrison is a former two-time Olympic judo gold medalist and two-time PFL lightweight grand-prix champion who brought a 16-1 record to the Octagon.

And Harrison has proven she can maintain that level of form in the UFC too by earning back-to-back victories last year, including submitting Holly Holm in her debut and then beating Ketlen Vieira by unanimous decision.

Pena vs. Harrison serves as the co-main event on a UFC 316 card that will be headlined by a men’s bantamweight title rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.