Joselyne Edwards is the official backup for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes, the women’s bantamweight title fight in the UFC 334 co-main event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14. If either woman falls out in the final stretch, Edwards (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) steps in. She told Hablemos MMA in Spanish that the call didn’t catch her off guard. “If not me, who else? I don’t see any other option,” she said, per MMA Junkie’s report.
The fight she’s shadowing is enormous. Harrison (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is the champion, a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist and two-time PFL tournament winner. Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) is a UFC Hall of Famer whom plenty of people rank as the best female fighter ever. Edwards made it clear she isn’t rooting for a withdrawal. “I don’t wish for any of them to get injured, but if they can’t fight, I’ll be there, ready,” she said, adding that the winner has to fight her regardless.
How she got here
Edwards has won five straight, with two knockouts and two submissions in that run. The latest came in April, a unanimous decision over Norma Dumont that snapped the Brazilian’s six-fight streak.
She also explained that she’d been in camp long before this assignment. According to Edwards, her manager floated a fight for the October card in Utah, and she was dieting and training by around July 15. The UFC sent that offer to Julianna Peña, who passed. Then a Dec. 12 date came up, and Edwards said Peña refused again. “I was very pissed, but what are you going to do?” Edwards said. She figured that if no booking came through, the backup slot would. Her manager told her several weeks ago, and it only needed UFC confirmation.
The other name in the conversation was Ailin Perez, who has won seven in a row and beat Edwards in 2024. All seven of Perez’s wins came by decision, which is a big part of the case Edwards is making with her finishes.
The scale question
Because this is a title fight, Edwards has to hit 135 pounds flat, with no one-pound allowance. She has missed weight three times in the UFC, most recently in 2024. She insists that’s behind her. “I can make weight this week,” she said. During the streak, she said, she’s come in at 135.5, “and that’s with me not trying to make 135 flat.”
My take: Edwards is the right pick, and her résumé backs up the swagger. Five wins, four finishes, and the Dumont result over someone who hadn’t lost in six fights is a better recent run than anyone else waiting in line. Perez has the head-to-head, sure, but the UFC wants a backup who can end things, and Edwards has shown she can. The only thing that worries me is the half-pound. Making 135.5 when you’re aiming for a non-title limit and making 135 flat with a belt on the line are two different weeks of suffering, and a backup who gasses in Round 3 from a hard last-minute cut would be a disaster for everyone. She says she’s already low and strong. She’ll have to prove it on the scale at MSG fight week, ahead of Nov. 14.
