Amanda Nunes is treating her comeback as a title reign, with no plans for a one-off. According to Boxing News, the former two-division UFC champion plans to defend the women’s bantamweight belt if she beats Kayla Harrison. For a fighter who walked away in 2023 with nothing left to prove, that changes the math for everyone else at 135.
The fight is already booked. Nunes and Harrison meet in the co-main event of UFC 334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Harrison is the reigning champion. She won the title that Nunes vacated when she retired, and it reached her two years later. So Nunes is coming back to take the belt she never lost in the cage.
The history between them is personal. Harrison trained with Nunes at American Top Team while Nunes held titles at 135 and 145 pounds. At the time, Harrison was a two-time Olympic judo champion working her way into MMA. Both women have said the gym got tense once Harrison’s move to the UFC put a future fight between them on the table.
Nunes went into that history on the Deep Waters podcast, as MMA Fighting reported. She said she has studied Harrison closely and that the old habits are still there. Harrison “still does the same mistakes since we sparred, you know? I studied her a lot,” Nunes said. She didn’t say which mistakes, which is smart if she plans to use them.
She was more direct about gym etiquette. Nunes said she never felt Harrison was an open training partner with the women on the team. She also said she felt Harrison began calling her out on the microphone too early, while the two still shared a coach and a mat. “I’m the champion in that gym, I brought the belt to that gym,” Nunes said. “Two, not only one.” Her view was that Harrison should have waited until Nunes retired before going after the belt. “The problem is we share the same mat, the same coach. This is not cool,” she said.
If Nunes wins and follows through, a line of contenders is waiting. In the updated Meta Rankings, Joselyne Edwards sits at No. 1, followed by Ailin Perez at No. 2 and Norma Dumont at No. 3. Chelsea Chandler jumped six spots to No. 9 after submitting Melissa Croden at UFC Edmonton.
My take: the defense plan is the most important part of this story. A legend who returns for one big night and leaves again would freeze the division for most of a year. A legend who says she’ll defend keeps Edwards, Perez and Dumont in line for a shot. I’d treat the sparring talk carefully, though. Gym rounds from years ago only tell you so much about a two-time Olympic judo champion who has had a full UFC run since then. If Harrison gets her grips in the first exchange on Nov. 14, Nunes will find out quickly whether those old mistakes are still there.
