If Amanda
Nunes had won as expected at UFC
269, it could have set the stage for a massive showdown with
one of the sport’s top free agents.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and Professional Fighters League
champion Kayla
Harrison was in attendance at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night
when Nunes suffered a second-round submission loss to Julianna
Pena in arguably the biggest upset of 2021. At the evening’s
post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White addressed
what might have been.
“These are those things, man,” White said. “For like a Kayla
Harrison, the Amanda
Nunes fight was huge. I mean, if they would have faced off, it
would have been a massive, you know, mega-million-dollar
fight.”
Harrison became a free agent after winning the PFL 155-pound title
for a second time this past October. The judoka is 12-0 thus far in
her professional career and has rarely been challenged inside the
cage while amassing 10 finishes. Her next destination has not been
determined but both Harrison and the Las Vegas-based promotion have
been in discussion recently. Exactly how much progress has been
made between the two parties remains to be seen.
“I said it last week that we were talking, and she said it this
week that we were talking,” White admitted. “We’re talking.”
What is clear is that Nunes’ latest defeat removes some of the
luster from what White believes could have been a blockbuster. Of
course, there’s no guarantee that Nunes and Harrison would have
agreed to the bout, since both fighters train at American Top Team
in Coconut Creek, Fla.
“Let me tell you what,” White said. “If Amanda Nunes had won
tonight, the Kayla Harrison fight would be one of the biggest
fights that you would have ever seen.”
Kayla Harrison is less then enthused after
seeing Amanda Nunes fall at
#UFC269 pic.twitter.com/aKDwwjw6cP— Daniel Cunningham (@DC4213)
December 12, 2021