Kayla Harrison says she was in 'a little bit of a dark place' during neck layoff before Nunes
The UFC bantamweight champion says the layoff meant "a lot of soul searching" before her first title defence against Amanda Nunes at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Kayla Harrison says she was in "a little bit of a dark place" while out with the neck injury that delayed her UFC 334 title fight with Amanda Nunes.
Asked at UFC 334 media day whether the extra months out had left her thinking about Nunes, the bantamweight champion said: "No, to be honest, I was in a little bit of a dark place. So focusing on just feeling like Kayla again was kind of the main focus and trying to figure out what this all meant for me and how I was gonna handle it. I didn't think about Amanda too, too much during that time."
She said her neck "didn't hurt when I wasn't training", adding: "If I was just being a mom, I could be fine. But getting back to the Kayla that I was was really, really hard. And I had to do a lot of soul searching and figure out if this is something that I really wanted. And it is."
"I thank God because I know that it all happened for a reason," Harrison said. "I know that I've been humbled. And I have been forged in the fire. And, like, I am unbreakable."
Asked whether having Nunes waiting had kept her going, she said: "Maybe. I mean, for sure, Amanda, Amanda being the one waiting for me at the end of the tunnel was a big help. But also, like, for me, it was important for me to come back."
Harrison and Nunes were first scheduled to fight in January, but the bout was pushed back about 10 months after Harrison had neck surgery. Harrison submitted Julianna Pena in June 2025 to become champion, and Nunes comes out of retirement for the fight. On the UFC 334 Embedded series, Harrison said it was "time to take off the mom hat and put on Killer Kayla".
Harrison vs Nunes is the co-main event beneath Ciryl Gane vs Josh Hokit for the heavyweight title. The card starts at 10pm UK time on Saturday (UFC 334 UK start times).
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