Amanda Nunes has made her target clear: she wants Kayla Harrison next, and only if the UFC women’s bantamweight title is on the line. Speaking to MMA Junkie, the former two-division champion dismissed the idea of competing for an interim belt and said her focus is on reclaiming the 135-pound crown against Harrison at a future UFC event, potentially something on the scale of UFC 316.
That stance matters because the bantamweight division has been waiting for a true centerpiece fight, and Nunes vs. Harrison is the matchup American fans have been circling for years. Nunes walked away as one of the sport’s most accomplished champions, while Harrison arrived in the UFC carrying major expectations after her PFL run. If Nunes wins, she reclaims her spot at the top and reinforces her legacy as the standard in women’s MMA. If Harrison wins, the division officially turns the page and gets the kind of signature victory that could define her UFC run.
The matchup also carries real narrative weight beyond the belt. Harrison has long been viewed as one of the few fighters with the pedigree and physicality to test Nunes in a way most contenders could not. From the American MMA media perspective, this is the rare women’s fight that feels both commercially meaningful and historically relevant — a clean clash between an all-time great and a new-generation force.
Nunes explained that she understands other fighters want opportunities, high-profile matchups, and title chances, but said that is not how she sees her return. She said she is only fighting for the undisputed belt, adding that other contenders will have to wait their turn just as she once did before getting her own title opportunity. Her goal, she said, is to fight Harrison and take back her belt.
If the UFC can align the timing, this is the fight that reshapes the division immediately, and the next move now is whether the promotion is ready to build an event around it.