Kayla Harrison disappointed after UFC 307 win: ‘Wasn’t the performance I was hoping for’

Off the back of her sophomore Octagon win over the course of last weekend, Kayla Harrison has claimed was hoping for an entirely different performance en route to her decision win at UFC 307 against perennial contender, Ketlen Vieira.

Harrison, who made her Octagon debut back in April on the preliminary card of UFC 300, managed to turn in a dominant second round rear-naked choke win over common-foe and former undisputed bantamweight titleholder, Holly Holm.

And matching with Manaus native, Vieira over the course of last weekend, Harrison failed to force a finish against the Brazilian in the pair’s title-eliminator — and was ignored by the newly-minted champion, Julianna Pena, who skirted a pairing with the Ohio native in the hope of luring Amanda Nunes from retirement into a trilogy rubber match.

Kayla Harrison laments performance against Ketlen Vieira in UFC 307 win

Still hoping that her victory over stalwart contender, Vieira has positioned her into a bantamweight title fight for the first time in the promotion, Olympic gold medal winner — twice, Harrison, claimed she was unhappy with her performance at UFC 307.

“It wasn’t the performance I was hoping for,” Kayla Harrison told ESPN after her win over Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307. “I just felt a little flat tonight. Couldn’t string some stuff together. A little bit frustrated with my performance. You know, my team makes a lot of sacrifices. Everyone really puts in a lot of effort in order for me to be here. So I just feel like I let them down a little bit.”

“It’s more just being able to just kinda opening up and unleashing,” Kayla Harrison explained. “For whatever reason, I wasn’t able to do that tonight as much as I wanted to. I know I’m my own harshest critic, but I have to be the best on my worst day.”