In a crushing blow to UFC 324 and girls’s MMA as a complete, bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison has been forced to withdraw from her historic showdown against Amanda Nunes on January 24 resulting from a major neck injury requiring surgery. The news, first reported by The Eagle Tribune and has since been confirmed by Léo Walker Guimaraes.
Kayla Harrison está fora da luta contra Amanda Nunes no dia 24 de janeiro, UFC 324.
A informação foi revelada em primeira mão pelo site The Eagle Tribune e pude confirmar agora sobre o cancelamento.
A campeã teve uma lesão no pescoço e precisou passar por cirurgia +
— Léo Walker Guimaraes (@leoguimaraesmma) January 14, 2026
Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo and former PFL champion, captured the UFC women’s bantamweight title at UFC 316 with a second-round submission victory over Julianna Peña. The matchup against Nunes—widely promoted as “the best female fight of all time”—represented her first title defense and a career-defining moment for the 35-year-old champion. Unfortunately, those plans have been shelved indefinitely.
Posting a finish from a random ufc event in 2025 because there isn’t any ufc for ages
Day 20: Harrison vs Pena (UFC 316, June seventh, Newark, Recent Jersey) pic.twitter.com/zFpOnbCacc
— Marcin Tybura fan (@John56532395736) January 8, 2026
The recovery timeline appears bleak for Harrison’s immediate future. Medical professionals and the UFC are projecting roughly six months before the champion can safely return to competition, meaning fans likely won’t see her back contained in the Octagon until mid-2026 on the earliest. Neck injuries are notoriously difficult to administer, and surgery typically signals a severe underlying condition requiring extensive rehabilitation and careful monitoring before clearance to fight.
A previsão é que o retorno de Harrison acontece entorno de seis meses.
Não fui informado se o haverá criação de um cinturão interino para Amanda lutar
— Léo Walker Guimaraes (@leoguimaraesmma) January 14, 2026
While the UFC has yet to make an official announcement regarding an interim bantamweight title bout, the promotion now faces significant questions on how you can proceed with the 135-pound division. With Harrison sidelined and Nunes’s comeback plans now in limbo, the ladies’s bantamweight title picture has turn into increasingly cloudy.
Despite the lack of what would have been the cardboard’s biggest selling point, UFC 324 stays stacked with elite talent. The event, which marks the UFC’s debut on Paramount+, still features several marquee matchups that showcase the game’s elite talent.
UFC 324 Remaining Fight Card
- Most important Event: Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett (Interim Lightweight Championship)
- Co-Most important Event: Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong
- Heavyweight: Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis
- Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva
- Light Heavyweight: Nikita Krylov vs. Modestas Bukauskas
- Bantamweight: Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
- Middleweight: Ateba Gautier vs. Andrey Pulyaev
- Flyweight: Alex Perez vs. Charles Johnson
- Heavyweight: Josh Hokit vs. Denzel Freeman
- Lightweight: Michael Johnson vs. Alexander Hernandez
- Welterweight: Ty Miller vs. Adam Fugitt
- Bantamweight: Ricky Turcios vs. Cameron Smotherman
- Women’s Flyweight: Rose Namajunas vs. Natalia Silva