Kayla Harrison is hoping Amanda Nunes does indeed return to the UFC.
Talk of Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) coming out of retirement amplified when the former UFC two-division champion showed up to the UFC 316 pre-fight press conference. UFC CEO Dana White was asked if Nunes would face the winner of bantamweight champion Julianna Peña vs. Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), which serves as the UFC 316 co-main event June 7 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Nunes was seen nodding repeatedly when the camera panned to her.
Harrison is eyeing a showdown with Nunes if she gets past Peña (13-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and claims the title.
“I have to go whoop on Julianna, but that was always the fight I wanted,” Harrison told MMA Junkie. “I never meant it in like a disrespectful manner. I never meant it like I’m better than you. I just think that she is the greatest of all time. To me, that’s a very clear distinction of where she has put herself, and I didn’t come to the sport to be the second greatest. May we share the cage with respect and dignity, and may the best woman win.”
Harrison and Nunes were former training partners at American Top Team before Nunes parted ways with her longtime gym to build her own squad.
“We didn’t really train live a whole lot. It was a lot of drilling and situational stuff from what I recall,” Harrison said. “So I wasn’t going 100 percent. She got 40 percent of me, too, but I was at the gym every day. When she wanted to train, I made myself available. Not just because it was a great opportunity for me to train with the best in the world and to have that, but also because I’m a team player. … I try to be what my teammates want me to be, and I try to lead by example.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC’s Kayla Harrison hopeful about Amanda Nunes’ potential return
Kayla Harrison is hoping Amanda Nunes does indeed return to the UFC.
Talk of Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) coming out of retirement amplified when the former UFC two-division champion showed up to the UFC 316 pre-fight press conference. UFC CEO Dana White was asked if Nunes would face the winner of bantamweight champion Julianna Peña vs. Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), which serves as the UFC 316 co-main event June 7 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Nunes was seen nodding repeatedly when the camera panned to her.
Harrison is eyeing a showdown with Nunes if she gets past Peña (13-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and claims the title.
“I have to go whoop on Julianna, but that was always the fight I wanted,” Harrison told MMA Junkie. “I never meant it in like a disrespectful manner. I never meant it like I’m better than you. I just think that she is the greatest of all time. To me, that’s a very clear distinction of where she has put herself, and I didn’t come to the sport to be the second greatest. May we share the cage with respect and dignity, and may the best woman win.”
Harrison and Nunes were former training partners at American Top Team before Nunes parted ways with her longtime gym to build her own squad.
“We didn’t really train live a whole lot. It was a lot of drilling and situational stuff from what I recall,” Harrison said. “So I wasn’t going 100 percent. She got 40 percent of me, too, but I was at the gym every day. When she wanted to train, I made myself available. Not just because it was a great opportunity for me to train with the best in the world and to have that, but also because I’m a team player. … I try to be what my teammates want me to be, and I try to lead by example.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC’s Kayla Harrison hopeful about Amanda Nunes’ potential return
