Kayla Harrison criticizes Demetrious Johnson over MMA comments

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison has criticized Demetrious Johnson for his mockery of the UFC 332 main event between flyweights Natalia Silva and Wang Cong. During an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Harrison addressed Johnson and Israel Adesanya’s reaction to the fight, which featured Silva defeating Cong via unanimous decision to claim the vacant flyweight title.

Harrison described Johnson’s attitude as a “mindset of scarcity” that is “detrimental to the growth of the sport.” She argued that established fighters do not need to belittle others to build their own brands and emphasized that placing fighters in main event slots is essential to building them into stars.

This tension follows previous friction between the athletes, as Harrison noted that Johnson had previously advised her to retire rather than face Amanda Nunes. Harrison is currently preparing for her upcoming bout against Nunes at UFC 334.