Kayla Harrison just lately opened up about her lingering rivalry with Amanda Nunes, voicing her want for the Brazilian to return out of retirement.
One of many MMA world’s most tantalizing “what if” matchups has lengthy centered round a possible showdown between Harrison and Nunes. Harrison, a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist, spent the vast majority of her MMA profession within the PFL earlier than making her extremely anticipated UFC debut this previous April. The previous PFL girls’s light-weight champion’s transfer to the UFC sparked renewed hypothesis a couple of attainable conflict with “The Lioness”.
The most important hurdle to creating this tremendous combat a actuality is that Nunes had already hung up her gloves following a unanimous choice win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June 2023. That was almost a 12 months in the past when “Doug” made her first Octagon look towards Holly Holm at UFC 300.
Harrison and Nunes share a wealthy historical past, having lengthy expressed mutual curiosity in going through off ever since their days as coaching companions at American High Group (ATT) in Florida. Nonetheless, following her stunning loss to Julianna Peña at UFC 269 in December 2021, “The Lioness” selected to sever ties with the fitness center.
Nunes later disclosed that her choice to depart ATT was fueled by unease, as she typically discovered herself coaching alongside two fighters who may doubtlessly turn out to be her opponents, Harrison and Yana Kunitskaya, making her departure really feel inevitable.
Harrison Hopes For Nunes’ Return to Settle Unfinished Enterprise
Throughout a current interview with MMAFightingonSBN, the previous Olympic gold medalist shared her ideas on Nunes, who had hinted at a attainable comeback after witnessing Harrison’s victory over Holm at UFC 300. Nonetheless, since then, Nunes has gone utterly silent, leaving Harrison and followers in suspense over whether or not the long-anticipated showdown will ever occur.
The 34-year-old Ohio native clarified that there’s no dangerous blood between her and “The Lioness”, but she stays hopeful that the previous two-division UFC champion will come out of retirement to face her.
“Selfishly, I hope that she does [come out of retirement], however once more, I’ve no beef with Amanda aside from her attempting to throw American High Group beneath the bus,” Harrison stated. “You don’t play or don’t f**ok with my homies. However hear, if she’s glad and she or he’s residing her dream, that’s nice, however selfishly, I’d love for her to return again in order that I can put all the noise to relaxation.”
Harrison, who’s gearing up for a high-stakes bantamweight showdown towards Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307 subsequent month, emphasised that her main focus is locked on the upcoming combat. She added that her sights are set on capturing the title first earlier than entertaining any potential matchup towards Nunes.
“Once more, one step at a time: Ketlen first, then the title, after which Amanda, if she needs some.”
