Kayla ⁠⁠Harrison defeats Amanda Nunes to retain UFC bantamweight belt

Detailed summary

Harrison won by a fourth-round submission against MMA legend Nunes, who made a comeback after a three-year absence.

Kayla ⁠⁠Harrison has retained her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight title with a fourth-round submission win over one of the mixed martial arts (MMA) all-time greats, Amanda Nunes, in the United States.

The American fighter leveraged her tremendous grappling skills and thwarted ⁠⁠her opponent’s attempt to take the belt back in the main event of UFC 334 at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

A two-time Olympic judo champion, the 36-year-old Harrison was facing arguably the greatest female fighter of all time in Nunes, a dominant two-weight champion at bantamweight and featherweight before she stepped away from the sport in June 2023. But the Brazilian could not shake off the rust from her ⁠⁠⁠⁠long absence as she let the fight slip away ⁠⁠⁠⁠from her.

Nunes did well initially, looking crisp in her striking and avoiding some early takedown attempts, but she eventually succumbed to Harrison’s grappling attack, spending much of the latter part of the ⁠⁠opening two rounds on the bottom in a scarf-hold position from which she struggled to escape.

Emboldened by her ⁠⁠success, Harrison displayed the full range of her judo ⁠⁠skills with perfectly timed trips and tosses and vice-like ground control. In the fourth round, she chased Nunes down to the mat, jumping on her back and quickly sinking in a rear-naked ‌‌choke that forced the 38-year-old to submit.

“I think I’m still in shock,” said Harrison, who had surgery on herniated disks in her neck in January.

“It ‌‌feels ‌‌surreal. Sometimes I can’t believe my life. I’m just really grateful, I’m humbled, it’s an honour and a privilege to stand before you,” she said, addressing her opponent.

Harrison (20 wins, one defeat) admitted she was not sure what was next for her but took a moment to acknowledge the audience.

Nunes (23 wins, six defeats) took her gloves off but did not make herself available for a post-fight interview.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Al Jazeera. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.