Amanda Nunes walks back into the Octagon on Saturday, November 14, at Madison Square Garden, 1,253 days after her last fight. The co-main event of UFC 334 puts the former two-division champion against reigning women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, with the title on the line over five rounds. Above them, Ciryl Gane defends the heavyweight title against Josh Hokit in the main event.
“I'm gonna get my belt back, and I'm gonna defend my belt.”
Nunes says she left because she had nothing left to give. "I feel amazing. I'm really happy to be back. I missed this. I missed everything about MMA. This has been in my life since I was a teenager," she told UFC.com in a fight-week interview. "When I stepped out, I needed the rest because I was literally on a roll, fighting for so long — defended the belt in two divisions, and I never stopped. I was burned out."
The retirement came at UFC 289 on June 10, 2023. Nunes beat Irene Aldana by unanimous decision, 50-44, 50-44, 50-43, defending the bantamweight title. Moments later she placed both belts on the canvas and announced she was done. "Tonight is the perfect night to retire," she said that night, as quoted by Sportskeeda. She retired as the reigning champion in two divisions — bantamweight and featherweight — the first woman to hold two UFC titles simultaneously, with a record of 23-5: 13 wins by knockout or technical knockout, four by submission and six by decision. In 2025 she was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Nunes did not want to keep going on empty. "I didn't want to keep pushing through back then and have the risk to lose because I wasn't happy doing the thing that I love to do. So, when I retired, I needed the break. I needed to reset and needed a clear mind. I needed a break for my body to lose weight, too," she told UFC.com. MMA Mania reported that she also wanted more time with her growing family and was carrying lingering nerve damage, and that she had accomplished virtually everything in the Octagon.
Retirement, she found, brought its own problems. On the MightyCast podcast with Demetrious Johnson, Nunes said retirement left her without a purpose. "I started getting anxiety, and I was scared of being depressed. I needed something to focus on in my life and prepare for my life," she said. "I never prepared for life after fighting, and that's really dangerous. Nobody talks about that. I know everything that Dustin Poirier is going through because I went through it too."
The break, in the end, wore thin. "But when I got the break that I needed, it got boring. I got bored at home. My daughter got bored, and my little one didn't get the opportunity to see everything," Nunes told UFC.com. She announced her comeback ahead of UFC 316 in June 2025, to face the winner of Harrison against Julianna Peña. Harrison submitted Peña with a second-round kimura to win the title, and Nunes entered the cage for the faceoff.
The fight was supposed to happen sooner. Harrison and Nunes were originally booked for UFC 324 on January 24, 2026, but Harrison withdrew about two weeks before the event with herniated discs in her neck and underwent surgery. "I can't lift my arm. I'm getting lightning bolts. The last five days, I think I slept maybe three hours because I would fall asleep and then the lightning bolts. It's the worst pain ever," Harrison said on the Deep Waters podcast, as quoted by Yardbarker. "I had a two-level fusion. So I have five herniated discs." Nunes was left without an opponent and did not stay on the card; MMA Mania reported she elected to wait for the champion to recover rather than take a replacement or interim fight. The rebooking for UFC 334 came about 10 months after the original date.
What is at stake on Saturday is a piece of history. A win would make Nunes the first three-time UFC women's bantamweight champion, according to MMA Mania and Boxing News — she is already a two-time champion in the division. She says the comeback is not a one-off. "I don't think so. I would have come back anyways. I had a hard time being away. I think I did the break at the right time," she said on the Deep Waters podcast, as quoted by Sportskeeda, when asked whether she would retire again if she wins. "You gotta defend the belt, for sure... Then we're gonna see." On the MightyCast, she put it more simply: "I'm gonna get my belt back, and I'm gonna defend my belt."
Harrison, 19-1 and 3-0 in the UFC, stands in the way. The two-time Olympic judo gold medallist and two-time PFL tournament champion is making her first title defence. Joselyne Edwards is expected to serve as the backup for the fight, according to MMA Fighting. Doors open at 4 p.m. ET, with early prelims at 5 p.m., prelims at 7 p.m. and the main card at 9 p.m. on Paramount+.
