Julianna Pena accuses Kayla Harrison of "ducking" Cris Cyborg ahead of UFC 316 clash, Olympic gold medalist responds

Julianna Pena lit a fuse ahead of UFC 316, accusing Kayla Harrison of ducking Cris Cyborg during her PFL days. Pena questioned the legitimacy of Harrison’s fast-track to the belt, calling her a “weight bully” and claiming she jumped the line thanks to promotional favoritism and star power.

Harrison, meanwhile, remains unfazed. The former PFL standout and two-time Olympic gold medalist will take on Pena for the UFC women's bantamweight title on June 7 in New Jersey. Accusing Harrison of ducking Cyborg at the UFC 316 press conference, Pena said:

“You know I think that at the end of the day, it's very apparent that she was ducking Cris Cyborg in the PFL. I don't know anyone that would pour in that much money to one specific person like Don Davis to have her as a face of his brand and then only for her to not forego her contract at the PFL. She was running from Cris Cyborg. Everybody knows that.”

She added:

“And of course because she had such a big name there she was able to jump the line in front of all these other women that had put in so much time and effort into making this bantamweight division great. So do I understand it? Of course. The machine is a money maker. You know if it don't make money it don't make sense. And at the end of the day this fight makes sense and that's why it's being done.”

Check out Julianna Pena's comments below (7:15):

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Julianna Pena accuses Kayla Harrison of being a "weight bully" ahead of UFC 316

Kayla Harrison’s maiden UFC title shot is heating up as she gears to take on divisional champion Julianna Pena.

However, Pena isn’t rolling out the welcome mat, questioning Harrison’s toughness, and calling her a weight bully. Harrison fired back, saying she’s here to prove she’s the best and getting paid to punish Pena.

Pena accused Harrison of being a weight bully, stating:

“That's what she thinks [she can beat me]. But at the end of the day how are you going to beat me Kayla? How are you going to beat me?... First off actually I wanted to know, are you okay honestly? Because I know that you have to like piss blood, spit blood in order to weight drain yourself, you weight bully, to make this division in the first place.”