Kayla Harrison has no interest in a farewell tour. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion rejected retirement talk ahead of her title defense against Amanda Nunes, boxingnews.com reported Thursday. The fight goes down Saturday, Nov. 14, at UFC 334, on a card headlined by Gane vs. Hokit.
We haven’t seen her full comments, only the report’s headline, so we won’t put words in her mouth. The message is simple enough. Don’t write the obituary yet.
The timing of the question makes sense, even if Harrison doesn’t like it. She’s 36, she hasn’t fought since June 7, 2025, and the woman across the cage is the one many commentators call the greatest female mixed martial artist ever. If you were ever going to ask a two-time Olympic judo gold medalist whether this is the last ride, this is the week.
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Harrison is 19-1 and sits No. 1 at bantamweight in Knockout Daily’s rankings. She won PFL lightweight tournaments in 2019 and 2021, signed with the UFC in January 2024, beat former champ Holly Holm in her debut and took the bantamweight title from Julianna Peña with a second-round kimura in June 2025. She’s the first woman to win both Olympic gold and a UFC belt. She trains out of American Top Team.
Nunes, 38, is a two-time UFC bantamweight champion and a former featherweight champ. She’s the only woman to win titles in two UFC divisions and the only fighter in company history to defend belts in two weight classes while holding both. No interim nonsense required.
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Fight week color
The Thursday presser had at least one moment that’ll outlive the fight. Josh Hokit, who meets Gane in the main event, delivered a line aimed at the other side of the dais that Championship Rounds posted on X: “On that side of the table, they like dck. On this side of the table, we like pssy.”
Nunes, who is openly gay, loved it. MMA Orbit posted that she jumped up and embraced Hokit, and ACD MMA’s clip has her answering “I do!” Several accounts had the clip up within minutes.
Harrison had her own moment a day earlier. Championship Rounds posted that she did a double take at Alex Pereira during UFC 334 media day, which is a reasonable reaction to Alex Pereira.
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The retirement chatter goes quiet if Harrison wins Saturday. If Nunes takes the belt, expect the same question to be waiting at the post-fight podium, and expect Harrison to give the same answer.
