Amanda Nunes is officially returning to mixed martial arts competition and will face Kayla Harrison for the women’s bantamweight title early in 2026.
Dana White announced Thursday the five-round championship matchup will take place at UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Jan. 24.
White announced shortly thereafter on social media that the main event of UFC 325, which takes place the following week in Sydney, will feature Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.
Nunes is considered the greatest women’s fighter in UFC history, but hasn’t fought in 2.5 years since announcing her retirement following a UFC 289 title defence against Irene Aldana.
Harrison became the 135-pound champion at UFC 316 in June when she submitted Julianna Pena to become the new champion, after which she challenged Nunes, who was watching from cageside.
The Brazilian legend was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame this past summer but also announced that she was planning a return to the cage and was preparing to face the winner of Harrison vs. Pena.
The pair previously trained together at American Top Team in Florida when Harrison first began MMA before Nunes eventually left the gym.
“I feel like we knew this was gonna happen. … I know you were preparing to (fight me) and now we’re gonna do it,” Nunes said to Harrison at UFC 316.
Harrison vs. Nunes will be the second women’s superfight in a span of just a few months after flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko recently defeated longtime strawweight champion Zhang Weili at UFC 322, as Zhang attempted to join Nunes as the only two-weight women’s champion in UFC history.
Nunes went 16-2 in the UFC from 2013 to 2023, during which she set multiple records, including having the longest winning streak in UFC women’s history (12), accumulating the most finishes in UFC women’s history (10), and becoming the first woman to become a two-division champion. Nunes was the reigning 135-pound champion when she knocked out Cris Cyborg in 2018 to simultaneously become the 145-pound champ.
The 37-year-old also holds notable wins over former UFC champions Ronda Rousey, Meisha Tate, Holly Holm, Raquel Pennington, Germaine De Randamie, Julianna Pena and holds a pair of close decision wins over Schevchenko before Schevchenko moved down to her natural weight class at 125 pounds.
Harrison is a two-time Olympic gold medallist in judo and joined Henry Cejudo the only other Olympic champion to go on to also win a UFC title.
Following her incredible judo career, Harrison transitioned to MMA and thrived. She had her first pro MMA bout in 2018 and has since amassed a 19-1 record in the sport. Before joining the UFC in 2024, Harrison was a champion in the Professional Fighters League, primarily competing in the 155-pound division. Her lone loss was a five-round decision in 2022 to Larissa Pacheco, a fighter Harrison had previously beaten twice.
The UFC folded its women’s 145-pound division while Nunes was the champion, so by the time Harrison joined the UFC she had to make the drastic weight cut down to 135 pounds. Harrison has made weight for all her UFC appearances but has noted how difficult it is getting down to the bantamweight limit.
The 35-year-old American defeated Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira in 2024 in her first two UFC appearances to earn her title shot. Her win over Pena was her lone appearance in 2025.
UFC 324 will mark Harrison’s second time fighting in Las Vegas. It will be Nunes’s 10th time fighting in Las Vegas. Both of Nunes’s UFC losses have occurred there.
