Kayla Harrison was forced into neck surgery just days before she was scheduled to face Amanda Nunes in the UFC 324 co-main event and that knocked her out of one of the most highly anticipated fights in MMA history.
With Harrison sidelined while recovering from her surgery, Nunes ultimately wasn’t rebooked against a new opponent and it appears she’ll continue waiting until the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion is healthy again. UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that the Harrison vs. Nunes fight is too monumental to pass up, which is why the Brazilian legend is going to just wait for her opponent to heal up so they can rebook the matchup sometime in 2026.
“This fight is the greatest female fight ever,” White told TMZ. “You can’t just throw somebody else in there. You wait until she’s ready and you do the fight.
“Amanda’s so awesome to work with. I’ve had a great relationship with her since day one. She’s very easy to work with. The surgery went well [for Kayla Harrison]. She should make a full recovery and we should be able to do the fight this year.”
It was obviously unfortunate timing given that Nunes was coming out of retirement after already missing over two years of action since her most recent fight came back in 2023. Once Harrison’s injury was revealed, Nunes was pulled from the card despite other ranked bantamweights like Norma Dumont volunteering to face her on short notice.
But White acknowledged that the magnitude for a fight between Harrison and Nunes is just too good to pass up even if that means waiting several months before rebooking the matchup.
Harrison hasn’t set any timeline for her return to the octagon, although it was initially expected that she might be sidelined for approximately six months after her surgery.
The UFC won’t rebook the matchup until Harrison is ready to go again but White seems confident that she’ll recover and then the promotion will find a new date for the Nunes fight later this year.
The fight pits Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who claimed the UFC women’s bantamweight title with a dominant submission finish over Julianna Pena, against arguably the greatest women’s fighter in the history of the sport in Nunes.
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