Harrison admits Nunes rivalry is the sole reason she returned from neck surgery

Kayla Harrison has admitted that facing Amanda Nunes is the only reason she returned to competition, with the UFC women’s bantamweight champion telling Ariel Helwani she would likely have stayed retired had the bout not been on the table.

“Probably. I mean, just to be honest. Yeah,” Harrison said when asked directly whether the Nunes matchup was the sole motivation for her comeback.

Harrison (19-1) is scheduled to defend her title against Nunes (23-5) at UFC 334 on 14 November at Madison Square Garden in New York. The champion, who already pushes her body hard to make the 135-pound bantamweight limit, said the significance of the opponent makes the gruelling weight cut worthwhile.

Nunes is widely regarded as the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time, and the bout carries obvious historical weight. Harrison joined the UFC in 2024 after winning two Professional Fighters League lightweight championships, and wasted little time making her mark — submitting Julianna Pena to claim the bantamweight belt in her first year with the promotion.

The two were originally scheduled to meet in January, but Harrison was forced to withdraw after suffering a neck injury that required surgery. The setback pushed the highly anticipated rematch back by nearly a year, and Harrison’s candid admission suggests the delay tested her resolve to continue competing at the highest level.

With the rescheduled fight now confirmed for Madison Square Garden, Harrison appears fully committed — motivated, by her own account, almost entirely by the chance to share the cage with the fighter many consider the benchmark for women’s MMA.