The UFC released the full Countdown episode for UFC 334 on its YouTube channel, giving the card’s two biggest fights the behind-the-scenes treatment ahead of fight week. The headliner is Kayla Harrison defending the bantamweight championship against Amanda Nunes on November 14 at Madison Square Garden, with a heavyweight co-main underneath. Athlon’s card coverage points to Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit at heavyweight, framed around who gets the next title shot.
This fight was supposed to happen at UFC 324 in January. Harrison pulled out after undergoing neck surgery, and the booking slid to November. So instead of a quick rematch-of-the-gym-rivalry storyline, we got 10 extra months of anticipation.
Harrison (19-1) comes in as champion making her first defense. She won judo gold at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, won the PFL lightweight tournament twice, then debuted in the UFC at UFC 300 by submitting former bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Wins over Ketlen Vieira and Julianna Peña followed, and the Peña fight at UFC 316 ended in a submission that put the belt around her waist. Nunes walked into the Octagon for a face-off that night, which is about as clear a callout as the sport allows.
Nunes (23-5) has been gone for nearly three and a half years. She retired after beating Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June 2023, leaving as a two-division champion at bantamweight and featherweight with a résumé that includes wins over Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Valentina Shevchenko and Holm. She’s 38 now.
The history between them is personal. Both trained at American Top Team in Florida, and Athlon reported the relationship soured as Harrison made it increasingly obvious she wanted a crack at the Brazilian. Training partners who don’t like each other tend to know exactly where the other one’s holes are, which makes this more interesting than the usual grappler-vs-striker sales pitch.
Elsewhere on the card, an Athlon headline says Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson has called UFC 334 his last fight, citing his baby girl.
My take: people will frame this as Nunes’s hands against Harrison’s judo, and that undersells Nunes, who has spent years defending takedowns against good grapplers and punishing people for reaching. But Holm couldn’t keep Harrison off her at UFC 300, and Peña couldn’t either at UFC 316. Harrison’s trips and throws from the clinch are the most reliable weapon in this division, and she’s been active while Nunes has been retired. If Nunes lands clean on the entry in the first five minutes, she can win this. I don’t think she gets enough of those moments. Harrison by submission in Round 3, and I’ll be watching how much Nunes’s takedown defense has held up after three and a half years of not having anyone try to throw her.
