Kayla Harrison shared an update after undergoing neck surgery, forcing her removal from UFC 324.
It was reported on Wednesday that the two-time Olympic gold medalist and UFC bantamweight champion would be unable to fight Amanda Nunes on January 24 in Las Vegas.
Harrison posted a video on Thursday, confirming she underwent neck surgery the day before in New York. She apologized to Nunes and called this “day one of recovery and the road back starts now,” but was very emotional, being unsure what the future holds.
My UFC 324 update. #kaylaharrison #ufc324 pic.twitter.com/p5KDtOpGhk
— Kayla Harrison Official (@KaylaH) January 15, 2026
Harrison, 35, won the gold medal in Judo at the 2012 & 2016 Olympics before starting her MMA career. She became one of the prominent faces of the PFL as a two-time tournament winner and went 16-1 before moving to the UFC.
She defeated Aspen Ladd, Holly Holm, and Ketlen Vieira to earn a bantamweight title fight against Julianna Peña and became champion at UFC 315 last June.
Nunes retired in 2023 and was coming out of retirement to fight against former teammate Harrison in one of the more anticipated fights on the calendar and one of the biggest in women’s MMA history.
An interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett headlines UFC 324.
