Nunes names Cyborg — not Harrison — as the toughest fight of her career

Amanda Nunes has singled out Cris Cyborg — not Kayla Harrison — as the toughest opponent of her career, making the admission at UFC 334 media day ahead of her bantamweight title comeback fight against Harrison.

“Cyborg was [the toughest],” Nunes said. “Respect. Size wise too. Cyborg’s huge. Cyborg is like double Kayla. Cyborg can knock me out. The power that woman has and never lost before, all those things. This fight is different but my biggest ones in history was becoming double champ against Cyborg, for sure.”

Nunes moved up to featherweight to challenge Cyborg for the UFC title in December 2018, stopping her in just 51 seconds to become a two-division champion. It remains one of the most emphatic upsets in women’s MMA history, ending Cyborg’s lengthy unbeaten streak at the highest level.

That context does not mean Nunes is dismissing Harrison. The Brazilian acknowledges the dangers her former training partner carries into the octagon, but her confidence heading into UFC 334 is absolute. “I will win on Saturday,” Nunes said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. You guys know that. I’m going to do it. My belts both, I have space already on my wall for them. Anybody after that. Whatever the UFC wants to do.”

Much of the pre-fight narrative has centred on the pair’s shared history — the two trained together and worked under some of the same coaches — but Nunes was firm in dismissing any suggestion of personal animosity. “No hate here,” she said. “It’s about hating nobody. It’s about the challenge that Kayla brings and how great this is going to be for women’s MMA. I don’t hate Kayla. Why would I hate Kayla? Why is everything about hate? This is a fight. We want to prove who is the best girl in the cage that night.”

Nunes came out of retirement to pursue the bantamweight title she vacated when she stepped away from the sport. A win over Harrison, a two-time Olympic judo gold medallist and unbeaten in MMA, would mark one of the most significant returns in the promotion’s history and restore Nunes to the top of the women’s pound-for-pound rankings.