Kayla Harrison wasted no time picking her next target. Moments after her first UFC women’s bantamweight title defense, she pointed at a woman who has already retired twice. Speaking to reporters after submitting Amanda Nunes in the fourth round of the UFC 334 co-main event, Harrison said she would welcome a fight with Ronda Rousey and that it would be an easy payday.
“If Ronda wants to come get some, it would be fun. Free money,” Harrison said, in a clip posted by Championship Rounds on X. MMA Fighting characterized the remark as a joke, and the delivery was loose. The intent still came through.
Rousey isn’t the only option on Harrison’s list. Yahoo Sports reported that the champion is open to either Rousey or Nunes next, so a rematch with the woman she just finished is still in play.
View post on X
How we got here
The Nunes win was the toughest assignment Harrison could have drawn on paper. Plenty of people consider Nunes the greatest women’s MMA fighter ever, and Harrison got her out of there in the championship rounds to keep the belt. As HEAVY pointed out in its writeup, that leaves a thin pool of obvious challengers, which is part of why a name like Rousey’s even enters the conversation.
Rousey, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, came back to MMA earlier this year and submitted Gina Carano in the first round on an MVP MMA card. After that fight she said she was retiring again so she could spend more time with her young family. HEAVY noted that the UFC would likely have to spend heavily to pull her out of retirement a second time, and also pointed to her good relationship with UFC president Dana White as a reason not to rule it out completely.
View post on X
Not everyone thinks the fight should happen. Damon Martin reacted on X with a blunt assessment: “This would be cruel and unusual punishment for Ronda. Kayla wins that one pretty much any way she wants.”
Quick take
I’m with Martin. Two Olympic judoka in a cage sounds like a grappling nerd’s dream on a whiteboard, and I am that nerd. But Rousey choking out Carano on an MVP card is a long way from standing across from the woman who just submitted Nunes in Round 4. Harrison’s clinch and top game would make the first exchange on the fence a preview of the rest of the night. Rousey also told everyone she was done, and I’d take her at her word until a contract says otherwise. If Nunes wants the rematch, that’s the fight with real competitive stakes. The Rousey fight is a check with a bout agreement stapled to it, and Harrison basically said so herself.
View post on X
