{"id":488601,"date":"2026-02-18T20:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/488601\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T20:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:28:09","slug":"new-ufc-fight-could-decide-challenger-for-kayla-harrison-vs-amanda-nunes-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/488601\/","title":{"rendered":"New UFC Fight Could Decide Challenger for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4w\">A recently-announced women\u2019s bantamweight fight looks like it could decide the division\u2019s next title challenger after the promotion rebooks Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4z\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/paramount-sees-massive-ufc-subscriber-roi-boost-before-ufc-324-launch-ufc-325-push\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">first UFC event of 2026 and the Paramount era<\/a> was supposed to feature two UFC title bouts before Harrison unfortunately withdrew from her superfight with returning UFC Hall of Famer Nunes, which left Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/justin-gaethje-paddy-pimblett-ilia-topuria-fight-bloody-ufc-324-war\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">close the night out with a violent five-round fight <\/a>that served as the event\u2019s only championship offering. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"52\">It\u2019s unclear <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ufc-champ-kayla-harrison-surgery-scar-injury-amanda-nunes-fight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">when Harrison will be available to return and face Nunes<\/a>, but <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AgFight\/status\/2023197200000643157\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Ag Fight<\/a> reports that the UFC is looking to keep the women\u2019s bantamweight division moving along with a matchup between Norma Dumont and Yana Santos that will take place at a UFC Fight Night event on April 25. <\/p>\n<p>Norma Dumont Is On The Best Run Of Her MMA Career<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"58\">Currently sitting at #3 in the UFC\u2019s official women\u2019s bantamweight rankings, Dumont is riding the momentum of six-fight win streak that stands as the best run of her entire MMA career. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5b\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ufc-veteran-faces-lifetime-ban-third-drug-test-violation-justin-jaynes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">UFC Veteran Faces Threat of Lifetime Ban Following Third Drug Test Violation<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5e\">\u201cThe Immortal\u201d went 4-0 to begin her professional fighting career before she joined the UFC in 2020 and was stopped in the first round of a featherweight contest against Megan Anderson. Dumont rebounded by defeating Ashlee Evans-Smith in a bantamweight bout that she unfortunately missed weight for, and the Brazilian\u2019s struggles on the scale largely defined her initial 3-2 run in the Octagon. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01khs1pjzby4kgfvewrx.jpg\" alt=\"Irene Aldana of Mexico (red gloves) fights Norma Dumont of Brazil (blue gloves) during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at Sphere.\" title=\"Irene Aldana of Mexico (red gloves) fights Norma Dumont of Brazil (blue gloves) during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at Sphere.\" width=\"5106\" height=\"3404\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"5o\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Irene Aldana of Mexico (red gloves) fights Norma Dumont of Brazil (blue gloves) during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at Sphere. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5s\">The 35-year-old won three-straight featherweight fights after losing to Macy Chiasson before returning to bantamweight, where she\u2019s had seemingly no further issues making weight and most recently defeated Ketlen Vieira to bring her winning run to six fights. <\/p>\n<p>Yana Santos Fought For UFC Gold In Octagon Debut<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5y\">Dumont will be facing a fighter with champion experience on April 25, as Santos previously challenged for the women\u2019s featherweight title at UFC 222 and was stopped by Cris Cyborg in the opening round. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"61\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/conor-mcgregor-deletes-post-promising-ufc-return-fight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Conor McGregor Quickly Deletes Post Promising Long-Awaited UFC Return Fight<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"64\">That meeting with Cyborg served as Santos\u2019 UFC debut before \u201cFoxy\u201d initially returned to the bantamweight division and went 4-4 over an eight-fight stretch that concluded with a split decision loss to Karol Rosa in a featherweight outing in 2023. That result marked Santo\u2019s third loss in a row, but she\u2019s rebounded with a three-fight win streak that includes a unanimous decision over former UFC Women\u2019s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01khs1qhm93m1hyqt87m.jpg\" alt=\"Yana Santos (blue gloves) reacts after the fight against Macy Chiasson (red gloves) during UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena.\" title=\"Yana Santos (blue gloves) reacts after the fight against Macy Chiasson (red gloves) during UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena.\" width=\"5373\" height=\"3582\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6e\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Yana Santos (blue gloves) reacts after the fight against Macy Chiasson (red gloves) during UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">Santos and Dumont will both be eager to set up a meeting with the Harrison vs. Nunes winner given that both women are currently ranked in the women\u2019s bantamweight Top 5, and so far their matchup is the only fight that\u2019s been announced for the UFC Fight Night card on April 25. <\/p>\n<p>More MMA Knockout News<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ufc-ronda-rousey-unretires-mma-legend-gina-carano-netflix-superfight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey Unretires to Face MMA Legend in Netflix Superfight<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6r\">\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ian-machado-garry-speculation-next-in-line-fight-ufc-champ-islam-makhachev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">UFC Star Sparks Speculation That He&#8217;s Next in Line to Fight UFC Champ Islam Makhachev<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/21-year-old-mma-fighter-repeatedly-slams-opponent-ground-vicious-knockout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">21-Year-Old MMA Fighter Repeatedly Slams Opponent to Ground for Vicious Knockout<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6x\">\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/21-fight-ufc-veteran-michael-chiesa-retire-ufc-seattle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">21-Fight UFC Veteran Riding 3-Straight Wins Set to Retire After UFC Seattle Fight<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-20\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">Stick with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MMAKnockout<\/a>\u00a0for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-21\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">Follow MMAKnockout on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MMAKnockoutSI\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/UFCKnockout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mmaknockoutsi\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recently-announced women\u2019s bantamweight fight looks like it could decide the division\u2019s next title challenger after the promotion&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-488601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}