Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes is a big deal.
The bout is situated as the co-main event of UFC 324, the promotion’s big debut on Paramount+. Harrison was the obvious heir-apparent at 135-pounds when Amanda Nunes retired a couple years ago, though it took some time for her to leave PFL and capture Octagon gold. In just two UFC fights, Harrison has proven herself the very real deal with easy submissions over Holly Holm and Julianna Pena.
Nunes, conversely, proved herself the best in the world a dozen times over. She captured and defended both the women’s Bantamweight and Featherweight crown numerous times. In her sole slip up for Pena, she quickly earned revenge before walking away to recovery some lingering issues.
Now that she’s back and challenging the new queen, the question has to be asked: is this the best women’s MMA fight ever? UFC CEO Dana White thinks so.
“The Kayla Harrison-Amanda Nunes fight is the greatest women’s fight of all time,” White told CBS (via MMA Fighting).
“Kayla Harrison, an Olympic [gold] medalist in judo, has ripped through everybody. She was in another company before she came here and she ended up winning the world title. Amanda Nunes, who is the GOAT, the greatest female fighter of all time in any combat sport, says if this woman ends up winning the title, I will come back to face her. It’s a great, great fight. In my opinion, the greatest female fight of all time.”
The fight still has to happen, of course, but the stature of the matchup itself doesn’t get much grander. If — like White — this is your pick for best ever female fight, I don’t think it’s a bad call. Based on the resume of its competitors alone, this ranks among other high skill champions bouts like Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili and Shevchenko vs. Nunes.
For my money, it will be hard to surpass the first Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk as the great women’s MMA fight in UFC history. Weili and Jedrzejczyk are the two most successful Strawweight champions in the promotion’s history, and many would argue 115-pounds as the best division historically. Then, the two put on an all-time great war that left Jedrzejczyk with a second forehead … yet “Joanna Violence” still arguably earned the nod!
Whether Harrison vs. Nunes can live up to that standard remains to be seen, but it’s a tall ask.
