Kayla Harrison hasn’t shared a cage with Amanda Nunes yet, and she’s already booking the sequel. At the UFC 334 pre-fight press conference at Madison Square Garden’s Infosys Theater on Thursday, Harrison said she expects to beat Nunes for the women’s bantamweight title on Saturday night. Then she went further. “And then I’ll give her an automatic rematch at 145 so I can snatch that other belt,” she said, as MMA Mania reported.
There’s a catch. The belt she wants to snatch doesn’t currently exist. Nunes retired from the UFC in 2023 holding both the 135 and 145 pound titles, and the promotion shelved women’s featherweight when she walked away. That left Harrison, who came up as a lightweight, stuck making brutal cuts to reach 135. According to MMA Mania, the scale has been her toughest UFC opponent so far, and she has suggested she’d sooner retire than keep grinding down to bantamweight.
That retirement talk hangs over the whole card. MMA Mania noted heavy speculation that UFC 334 could end with both women hanging up the gloves, which would make it the first title fight where champion and challenger retire together. Harrison’s 145 pitch reads like her counteroffer. Give her a division where she isn’t starving herself, and she has a reason to stay.
The faceoff at the presser had some heat. In a clip the UFC’s Paramount+ account posted to X, Harrison told Nunes, “You are the greatest for now. Saturday night that changes.” Nunes shot back by asking whether Harrison thought she was scared of her. Harrison answered that she didn’t care either way.
Whether the UFC actually revives featherweight is an open question, and MMA Mania asked it outright. The outlet argued that women’s bantamweight is at its weakest point in its 14-year history and that 145 never got traction the first time around. Its case for a 2027 comeback came down to two fights: Harrison vs. Nunes 2 at featherweight, followed by Harrison vs. Cris Cyborg. After that, MMA Mania suggested, the UFC could do whatever it wants with what would essentially be a women’s heavyweight belt.
First things first. UFC 334 goes down Saturday, Nov. 14, at Madison Square Garden, streaming on Paramount+. Harrison has to win the fight in front of her before the 145 rematch is anything more than a line into a microphone.
My take: I’m with Harrison, and I’d sign the paperwork tonight if I were the UFC. Watching an elite athlete hollow herself out to make a number does nobody any favors, and a version of Harrison who walks in hydrated and strong is the one Nunes (or anyone) should have to solve. The “automatic rematch” line is pure trash talk, since she doesn’t hold the power to grant it. But the Cyborg fight at the end of that road is the one I’d clear my calendar for, and it only happens if featherweight comes back. Saturday decides whether any of this is real.
