{"id":319842,"date":"2025-12-02T05:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T05:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319842\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T05:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T05:02:15","slug":"kayla-harrison-not-slighted-by-co-main-slot-in-exciting-324","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319842\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayla Harrison Not Slighted By Co-Main Slot In Exciting 324"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kayla Harrison<\/a> (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) secured the UFC Women\u2019s Bantamweight Championship this past June in Newark, NJ during UFC 316.\u00a0<\/a>That night, in her third UFC promotional appearance, she finished Julianna Pena (11-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) with a kimura submission inside the second round.<\/p>\n

The Middletown, OH product wasted little time in calling out her next adversary inside the fabled Octagon. During her post-fight interview with comedian and UFC analyst Joe Rogan, she challenged Amanda Nunes, who was in attendance at UFC 316, to a fight.<\/p>\n

Amanda Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) was Kayla Harrison\u2019s onetime teammate at American Top Team, as well as a friend of the current champ at 135 lbs. Before UFC 316 in the spring, Nunes expressed interest in suspending her retirement from competition<\/a> for the opportunity to fight the victor of the Kayla Harrison vs. Julianna Pena fight.
Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes Confirmed During\u00a0NFL Today\u00a0Halftime Segment on Thanksgiving<\/p>\n

During the halftime report of the Thanksgiving Day NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys on CBS Sports, UFC CEO Dana White announced the main and co-main events for the Jan. 24 UFC 324<\/a> on Paramount Plus. It\u2019s the first UFC event on the schedule<\/a> for 2026 and the first event of the upcoming seven-year deal between the UFC and Paramount Skydance.<\/a><\/p>\n

In Dana White\u2019s hit on\u00a0The NFL Today,\u00a0he revealed that the Harrison vs. Nunes tilt for the UFC Women\u2019s Bantamweight Championship would serve as the co-main event of the evening. Your main event of UFC 324 will see the UFC Interim Lightweight Championship at stake.<\/p>\n

No. 4 contender Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) will meet No. 5 contender Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the headliner. Both title fights will be an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round inside T-Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n

Kayla Harrison Isn\u2019t Upset With Co-Main Event Status at UFC 324 in January<\/p>\n

Most fighters who have been booked for the co-main event of a flagship event like UFC 324 wouldn\u2019t be too happy knowing that they\u2019d be fighting for a permanent championship before a fight for an interim championship takes place as the main event. Not Kayla Harrison.<\/p>\n

Given Harrison\u2019s comments made on the Monday episode of\u00a0The Ariel Helwani Show,<\/a>\u00a0she\u2019s taking the placement of her fight against Nunes on UFC 324 well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about me,\u201d Kayla Harrison began, \u201cand it\u2019s not about Amanda [Nunes], I think it\u2019s about the [women\u2019s bantamweight] belt. That should mean something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrison also mentioned that she\u2019s honored to share the stage with Gaethje in late January.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pumped,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a big Justin Gaethje fan.\u201d<\/p>\n


\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Kayla Harrison\u2019s Thoughts on Co-Main Event Slot Continued<\/p>\n

Following some strong comments from Helwani concerning the fact that the UFC 324 main event is for an interim championship at lightweight, Harrison reiterated her stance on fighting in the co-main attraction in Vegas next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree that these things matter,\u201d Kayla Harrison said. \u201cDoes it matter to me? Not in the way that it matters to you. I have been patiently waiting for a date to confirm that this fight is going to happen. So, the bout order is irrelevant to me. I\u2019m just being honest. I make jokes all the time where I\u2019m like \u2018I would fight on the prelims,\u2019 just because it\u2019s more conducive to the time I go to bed. I\u2019m a mom. I\u2019m in bed at 9 pm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kayla Harrison on Facing Amanda Nunes in Latter\u2019s Return from Retirement<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been over two years since Amanda Nunes fought inside the Octagon, having retired as the UFC Women\u2019s Bantamweight Champion after UFC 289 in Vancouver in June of 2023. As previously mentioned, Kayla Harrison was Amanda Nunes\u2019 former teammate at American Top Team.<\/p>\n

Harrison mentioned that she has one singular goal in mind for the former champion\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the focus is Amanda,\u201d she said. \u201cJan. 24, the G.O.A.T. gets dethroned.\u201d She also said that there\u2019s no animosity between the two ahead of the fight in the new year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really feel anything personal,\u201d Kayla Harrison remarked. \u201cThere have been two people who my name has been linked to since before I had an MMA fight, and that was Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg. I\u2019m living in my dreams right now. I started MMA eight years ago. The goal was to become the best and to see how high I could climb, to see if I could get to that level. I\u2019m here and I\u2019m making my dreams come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/p>\n

One could make a case for either title fight being the main event for UFC 324 in the back half of January, but Kayla Harrison has said that it doesn\u2019t matter where she fights. To her, all that matters is that she\u2019s fighting next month.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s certainly got a positive attitude. This is the kind of fight that you want to have your popcorn ready for before the cage door closes.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not going to want to miss even a second of this contest. Although it\u2019ll be the first title fight of 2026 in the UFC, it may be a strong contender for best title fight in the UFC of 2026 by this time next year.<\/p>\n

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