Kayla Harrison returns to defend her UFC title after brutal injury as Amanda Nunes comes back from a 2-year retirement: Here’s a look into their long rivalry

Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes have had a long-standing rivalry, which boiled over on Thursday, November 12. Harrison and Nunes faced-off during a pre-fight conference ahead of UFC 334.

The bantamweight champion Harrison and Nunes, who is a UFC hall of famer squared up on each other during the meet up. This comes ahead of their fight on Saturday, November 14. The two fighters were scheduled for a match up in January, but never fought due to Harrison being injured.

A video showed the two squaring up to each other before the press conference for several seconds before UFC CEO Dana White had to step in and separate them. Things got heated up with Harrison saying, “Everybody’s tough until you beat them.” The two exchanged words several times during the press conference.

Harrison suffered 5 herniated discs, required a neck and spine surgery

Harrison had suffered a gruesome neck injury with five herniated discs, which required her to undergo an emergency surgery. The champion had recently talked about the injury and said she nearly missed permanent nerve damage before her neck and spinal surgery. She is now scheduled to defend her title against Nunes in New York.

Since winning her championship in June 2025 against Julianan Pena, Harrison is yet to compete in the wing. Similar to her Nunes is returning after over two years. She last fought in June 2023 and retired as a double champion. She has not revealed her future plans after the fight, it remains unknown if she will go back into retirement after the Madison Garden fight.

The two earlier squared up after Harrison won over Pena in June 2025, setting up the January fight.

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Harrison and Nunes share a long rivalry

Even before the spectacle in 2025, Harrison and Nunes have shared a long rivalry, making their November 14 fight one of the biggest of 2026. According to ESPN, they earlier trained at the same gym at American Top Team in Coconut Creek in Florida. Nunes later described Harrison as the reason for her leaving the gym in 2022 after their relationship was strained.

The two have excelled in their own ways with Harrison being a two time Olympic gold medalist in Judo and Nunes having spent years in the MMA and considered as one of the best women UFC fighters. She had held the UFC title in both the bantamweight and featherweight categories.

The Saturday night match up will see Nunes fighting to reclaim her championship and Harrison trying to keep the title with herself.