Amanda Nunes is preparing for her UFC comeback against Kayla Harrison at UFC 334, and she’s already looking past it. MMANews.com ran a story Wednesday under the headline “Amanda Nunes Reveals Her Plan If She Beats Kayla Harrison,” and Just Women’s Sports framed the fight as the launch of a full career comeback. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew made the same point in his weekly mailbag, writing that Nunes has suggested this return might not be a one-off.
The fight lands Nov. 14 as the co-main event at Madison Square Garden. Harrison walks in as the reigning UFC bantamweight champion, holding the belt Nunes left vacant when she retired in 2023. That title took two years to reach Harrison, who came to MMA as a two-time Olympic judo champion and spent part of that transition training alongside Nunes at American Top Team. Back then, Nunes held the 135- and 145-pound belts at the same time.
Nunes went on the Deep Waters podcast this week and made it clear the gym history is still on her mind. She credited Harrison with growth since they first sparred, then added that “she still does the same mistakes since we sparred, you know? I studied her a lot.”
She also aired out how things went sour at ATT. Nunes said Harrison started calling her out publicly while they were still sharing a room, which she considered a breach of etiquette. “I’m the champion in that gym, I brought the belt to that gym,” Nunes said. Later she put it more bluntly: “The problem is we share the same mat, the same coach. This is not cool.”
Harrison’s side of the ledger points the other way on longevity. According to Meshew, Harrison said last week she might have retired already if not for the pull of fighting Nunes. Meshew called a double retirement “extremely likely” and predicted a vacant women’s bantamweight title fight by next year, with Valentina Shevchenko content to stay at 125. His one-word summary of the division was “Collapsed.” Looking at the current Meta Rankings behind Harrison (Joselyne Edwards, Ailin Perez, Norma Dumont, Luana Santos and Julianna Pena round out the top five), it’s hard to argue there’s a fight out there that would excite either woman the way this one does.
So here’s my take. I have a standing rule about fighters coming off long layoffs at short odds, and Nunes has been out since 2023, so if the books hang her as a heavy favorite on name value, I’m keeping my wallet in my pocket. Studying an old sparring partner is useful. Tape from a few years ago in a gym is a different animal from a five-round fight against a champion who has been active the whole time. But a Nunes who is talking about what comes next is a more dangerous fighter than one cashing a farewell check, and that changes how I’d price her. If she’s training like this is the start of a run, the line deserves respect. If it’s nostalgia, Harrison’s judo gets the last word Nov. 14 at the Garden.
