Injured Harrison out of Nunes UFC 324 title fight

Kayla Harrison has been ruled out of her bantamweight title defence against Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 in Las Vegas next week after suffering an injury.

The UFC has not yet revealed the extent of the injury, but American media are reporting Harrison requires surgery on herniated discs in her neck.

The bout, which was set to be the co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena on 24 January, has been “postponed to a later date”, the UFC says.

The promotion has not announced a replacement bout and has instead promoted former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley’s contest with Song Yadong to the co-main event.

Harrison, 35, was set to make the first defence of her title against returning former double champion Nunes in a bout UFC president Dana White had described as “the biggest women’s fight of all time”.

Former two-time PFL lightweight champion Harrison beat Julianna Pena in June to win the belt in only her third UFC fight.

Brazil’s Nunes, who many regard as the greatest women’s mixed martial artist of all time, was set to compete in her first bout since retiring from the sport in 2023.

The 37-year-old former bantamweight and featherweight champion is the only woman in history to hold UFC titles in two separate divisions.