Harrison's coach dismisses shared history with Nunes as factor ahead of UFC 334 title fight

Mike Brown has pushed back on the narrative surrounding Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes’ shared history at American Top Team, insisting it will play no meaningful role when the two meet for the women’s bantamweight championship at UFC 334.

Brown, who has served as Harrison’s head coach since she first entered the sport and previously worked with Nunes across a handful of fights, says the idea that either connection creates an advantage or conflict of interest is being exaggerated.

“It’s a big gym,” Brown told MMA Fighting. “There’s a lot of training partners. They weren’t training partners that often. Very seldom.”

On his own dual history with both fighters, Brown was equally measured. “I have a job. I work for Kayla and I work for ATT. That’s my job. I trained with Amanda, but I was never her official head coach. But I did work with her for a handful of fights. But this is business. It’s a big fight, and they’re both going to make a bunch of money and everyone is in a good situation.”

Nunes has since left American Top Team and set up her own gym as she prepares for her comeback from retirement. Brown argues that the separation makes his inside knowledge largely redundant in any case, pointing out that both fighters have extensive public records that make their respective game plans no secret.

“I think they both know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Brown said. “Amanda’s a big power puncher and everyone knows that. Kayla is a world class grappler and a multiple world champion, a world champion in judo, so there’s no secrets in what each fighter’s going to want to do. I don’t think you would have had to coach them to figure that out. It comes down to who can implement their game plan.”

For Harrison, the fight carries weight beyond the belt. The two-time Olympic judo gold medallist already holds a UFC championship and multiple PFL titles, and has long spoken about cementing herself as the greatest combat sports athlete of all time. Brown believes a win over Nunes — whose own résumé as a two-division UFC champion is among the most decorated in the sport’s history — would go a long way toward settling that argument in Harrison’s favour.