Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes: coach Mike Brown plays down shared gym history

Mike Brown, who has coached Harrison since her first day at American Top Team and also worked with Nunes, said he would consider Harrison the greatest of all time if she wins at UFC 334.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Wed 11 Nov, 15:13 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Mike Brown, Kayla Harrison's head coach, has said the history his fighter shares with Amanda Nunes is being blown out of proportion before their women's bantamweight championship fight in the UFC 334 co-main event.

Harrison and Nunes both trained at American Top Team (ATT) and at times shared coaches, Brown among them. He has coached Harrison since the day she first walked into the gym and worked with Nunes for a handful of fights, although he said he was never her official head coach. Brown said the two crossed paths but were never close and rarely trained together: “There’s a lot of training partners. They weren’t training partners that often. Very seldom.” Brown said having coached both fighters does not create a conflict of interest for him, because his job is to work for Harrison and for ATT. Nunes has since left ATT and effectively started her own gym, where she has prepared for her comeback from retirement.

Brown also said his knowledge of both fighters does not amount to an advantage. With plenty of footage of each available, he does not expect either camp to arrive with a radically different strategy: Nunes is a big power puncher, while Harrison is a world-class grappler and a world judo champion. He said: “I don’t think you would have had to coach them to figure that out. I think everyone knows what everyone wants to do here. It comes down to who can implement their game plan.” Harrison, who has won two Olympic gold medals in judo, a UFC championship and several PFL championships, has long said she wants to define her legacy by becoming the greatest of all time. Brown said beating Nunes would make that case for him. He pointed to Harrison's near-perfect record, with her only loss coming against Larissa Pacheco in their third fight after Harrison had beaten her twice, and to his view that Nunes has beaten every champion at 135lb except Harrison. He added that Nunes has done more in the sport than Harrison, but said: “She’s clearly head and shoulders above the competition. She also has a very high finish rate I would consider her the greatest of all-time if she wins this fight.”

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Kayla Harrison