Long-time UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes issued a statement following her loss to Kayla Harrison in the UFC 334 co-headliner.
After 3.5 years away from the game, Nunes returned to the Octagon for a grudge match against Harrison, her former training partner at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida.
But the fight did not go well for Nunes, who was dominated in the grappling and then submitted in the fourth round to cap a terrible comeback performance.
Despite the defeat, though, Nunes promises that she’ll be back.
Amanda Nunes Says She’s Back
Taking to her Instagram stories the day after UFC 334, Nunes made it clear that the Harrison fight was not a one-off, and that she is back for good.
“(Expletive) happens. Back in the game,” Nunes stated in an IG story.
Who Will Amanda Nunes Fight Next?
Immediately after UFC 334 concluded, UFC president Dana White was already being asked about a potential rematch between Nunes and Harrison, but at 145 lbs instead of 135 lbs, where both women wouldn’t have to cut as much weight to make the title limit.
While a rematch does make some sense since it is such a big fight, given how badly she lost this fight to Harrison, it makes far more sense for the UFC to book Nunes against someone else in the meantime for her to build her stock back up, because he fell quite a bit after this fight.
If you look at the UFC women’s bantamweight division, there are several opponents ranked highly in the weight class who Nunes could fight, such as Ailin Perez, Luana Santos, and Joselyne Edwards. These are all new fights for Nunes, as these fighters emerged in the last several years while Nunes was on the sidelines in retirement.
So, we’ll see what happens, but even though she did look terrible against Harrison, do not be surprised if and when we see Nunes back inside the Octagon in 2027, as it seems like she is very interested in stepping back inside the cage and getting another fight in very soon, not to mention making some more money.
Amanda Nunes Issues Statement After UFC 334 Loss