Don’t forget: Kayla Harrison is always keeping an eye out. Not just on the inner workings of her women’s bantamweight division but also about what others say of it and of her. ‘Doug’ takes on Ketlen Vieira in less than 24 hours on the pay-per-view main card for UFC 307 in Salt Lake City. She was not pleased with Henry Cejudo‘s podcast breakdown of how it’d go.
Olympian wrestler and male bantamweight Heny ‘Triple C’ Cejudo is a new co-host of the ShadowLion’s ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast. Along with Kamaru Usman, he claimed that Vieira’s black belt in judo, as well as her shot selection, will be a problem for Harrison. The two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka has had many such to-and-fro gags with grapple-heavy counterparts Cejudo and Khabib Nurmagomedov over the years. Now, she slams Cejudo for his take.
I don’t know why the hell they’re talking about a judo black belt making a difference. There are levels, …That would be like me telling Henry, ‘Oh this kid wrestled in varsity in high school, so you’re going to struggle to take him down.’ Benign. Asinine. It’s all right…I look forward to showing once again why Henry is a jealous little man.
Kayla Harrison via the ‘Submission Radio’ Show for SBNation Netwrok
‘Jealous Little Man’ would be playing into the 5’4 short stack tune that Sean O’Malley and so many others have used to tease Cejudo. Saying there are levels to this puts into context that compared to a black belt, Harrison herself is a 6th dan black belt in judo and a USA Judo National Team FORCE notable. Much like WMMA UFC pioneer Ronda Rousey, she won gold at the 2010 World Championships, 2012, and 2016 Olympics.
With a black belt in Judoka with IJF Grand Slam/Grand Prix and World Championships, the Ohio scrapper does not fear anyone or any condition to fight. And especially not Vieira’s or Cejudo’s assessment of it. During UFC 307 ‘Embedded’: Volg Series – Ep 4, she also doubled down on her remarks, sending a warning to Ali Abdelaziz, who represents both fighters. The question is: What critical input did Henry Cejudo even have?
Kayla Harrison could struggle if Ketlen Vieira can keep UFC 307 fight standing, says Henry Cejudo
Ketlen Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) meets two-time PFL women’s lightweight champ Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a day. The pivotal bantamweight clash can see either of them emerge as an easy No. 1 contender.
According to DraftKings, Kayla Harrison is a massive -800 initial bettor’s fave over Vieira. ‘Doug’ can judo throw, pummel, and tap anyone in the division. However, not all is written well for her sophomore outing. If Harrison can’t get the scrap to the ground, Henry Cejudo sees a standup game favoring Vieira more.
I think out of all the girls right now at 135 pounds that could match her strength, because you know Vieira’s a judo blackbelt, as well, and in my opinion she has better hands than Harrison. So it’s going to come down to the wrestling…But because of the wrestling, I got to go with the two-time Olympic champ.
Henry Cejudo via the “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman & Henry Cejudo” Podcast
The Brazilian out of Team Nova Uniao has put on a good show, mixing pocket-striking and Jiu-Jitsu. This was the topic of banter at Thursday’s UFC 307 Media Day as well. Title challenger Julianna Pena went into a war of words with Harrison, saying the last time she couldn’t stuff down on a Brazilian (Larissa Pacheco), she transitioned to UFC.
While hardly on these lines, Cejudo sees a path to victory for the massive underdog at UFC 307. However, while he did pick Harrison, it set her off anyway. Cejudo sees Viera as Harrison’s toughest stylistic opponent in the division. But he also sees the bantamweight powerhouse Olympian winning.
