Dec. 1, 2025, 6:00 p.m. ET
How is it possible that Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes is playing second fiddle to Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324? While that’s a question being asked by many MMA pundits, Harrison couldn’t care less.
“It’s not about me, and it’s not about Amanda,” Harrison said Monday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” I think it’s about the belt. That should mean something.”
UFC CEO Dana White announced on Thanksgiving that Gaethje vs. Pimblett – for the interim lightweight title in the wake of news that champion Ilia Topuria would take time off – is set to headline UFC 324, while the highly anticipated superfight between women’s bantamweight champ Harrison and Nunes serves as the co-main event. The UFC’s decision to make Harrison vs. Nunes the co-headliner to Gaethje vs. Pimblett raised eyebrows, with critics arguing that a made-up interim title fight should never headline over an undisputed title fight.
At least that part, Harrison agrees with – but only to an extent.
“I agree that these things matter,” Harrison said. “Does it matter to me? Not in the way that it matters to you.”
Harrison vs. Nunes is seemingly an easy fight to sell as a main event given the elite nature of the matchup (a two-time Olympic gold medalist vs. the consensus women’s GOAT) and the storylines involved (Nunes’ return from retirement and the fact that both women were friends and stablemates at American Top Team).
While all that might matter to the talking heads, all Harrison cares about is that the fight is finally happening.
“For me, I have been patiently waiting for a date to confirm that this fight is gonna happen,” Harrison said. “The bout order is irrelevant to me. I’m just being honest. I make jokes all the time where I’m like, I would fight on the prelims just because it’s more conducive to the time I go to bed.”
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