Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes
UFC 334 · November 14, 2026 · Madison Square Garden · Main Card
The brief
- What kind of fight
- Long-idle champion vs. returning legend
- Finish likelihood
- Medium
- The line
- No line posted yet
- The stakes
- Women's Bantamweight · Title fight · Main Card
The read
Harrison's judo-based control game and younger legs make her the fresher physical proposition after her own long injury layoff, but Nunes returning from retirement brings championship pedigree that doesn't simply disappear.
The layoffs on both sides make this genuinely difficult to forecast with confidence, and how each woman's conditioning holds up after so much time away could matter more than technique.
A close, competitive title fight either way.
The matchup
This is a genuine legacy fight between the champion who dethroned Julianna Pena and the two-division great who came before her.
Harrison hasn't fought since winning the title in June 2025, sidelined by neck surgery that scrapped an earlier planned defense against this same opponent, while Nunes returns from more than three years of retirement carrying the weight of her own résumé rather than recent form.
Both women's last completed fight is now well over a year old, which makes ring rust as much a variable as either woman's skill set.
Tale of the tape
| 19-1 | Record | 23-5 |
| 36 | Age | 38 |
| 5'8" | Height | 5'8" |
| 66" | Reach | 69" |
| — | Stance | Orthodox |
| United States | Country | Brazil |
| American Top Team | Team | American Top Team |
The numbers
Career UFC averages. Red bar = statistical edge.
The fighters
Kayla Harrison 19-1
Kayla Harrison is a 36-year-old American bantamweight and the UFC women's bantamweight champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo training with American Top Team. She won the title by kimura submission over Julianna Pena at UFC 316 in June 2025, but neck surgery has kept her out of the Octagon since, pushing back a planned title defense against Amanda Nunes from an earlier date. She finally makes that first defense here, nearly a year and a half after winning the belt.
- WJulianna Pena · Submission (kimura)UFC 316 · June 7, 2025
- WKetlen Vieira · Decision (unanimous)UFC 307 · October 5, 2024
- WHolly Holm · Submission (rear-naked choke)UFC 300 · April 13, 2024
Amanda Nunes 23-5
“The Lioness”
Amanda 'The Lioness' Nunes is a 38-year-old Brazilian former two-division UFC champion who retired after a unanimous-decision win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June 2023. She returns after more than three years away to challenge Kayla Harrison for the bantamweight title she once held, in what would be her first fight back from retirement.
- WIrene Aldana · Decision (unanimous)UFC 289 · June 10, 2023
- WJulianna Pena · Decision (unanimous)UFC 277 · July 30, 2022
- LJulianna Pena · Submission (rear-naked choke)UFC 269 · December 11, 2021