Kayla Harrison Submits Amanda Nunes at UFC 334 to Retain Bantamweight Title

Kayla Harrison UFC 334 Amanda Nunes bantamweight title, Digi Mart USA News (New York): Kayla Harrison submitted returning former double champion Amanda Nunes by rear-naked choke in the fourth round at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden to retain her bantamweight title, according to a BBC Sport report.

Nunes, 38, was fighting for the first time since retiring in 2023, after dominating at bantamweight and featherweight for years. She came out of retirement for the bout, drawn by the challenge of facing Harrison, her friend and former training partner at American Top Team Gym.

Nunes started well with straight rights, but ended the first round in trouble on the ground. Harrison used a powerful hip toss to take the fight to the floor, later cut Nunes with an elbow and right hand, and in the fourth round caught a kick, unbalanced her and locked in the finishing submission.

Harrison, 36, is a two-time Olympic judo gold medallist who later became a two-time PFL lightweight world champion before winning UFC bantamweight gold in only her third fight in the organisation. She had undergone neck and spinal surgery just 10 months earlier.

Speaking afterwards, she described being sexually abused as a child by her judo coach, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty.

After the fight, Harrison said she was considering retirement because of the difficulty of cutting weight to 135lb (9st 9lb), and that she expected to heal from injuries sustained in the bout. The win was her 20th in 21 professional fights.

Nunes, who left the UFC in 2023 as the only woman to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously, suffered the sixth defeat of her 29-fight career.

In the main event, heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, from France, defended his title by unanimous decision against Josh Hokit. The bout featured a record 383 significant strikes in a UFC heavyweight fight, with Gane’s counter striking from the back foot proving decisive.

Gane’s victory sets up a possible rematch with Tom Aspinall, should the Briton fully recover from an eye injury.

On the undercard, British lightweight Chris Duncan beat American Drew Dober by unanimous decision, and Stephen Thompson ended his 16-year career with a stoppage win over Charles Radtke using a spinning wheel kick.