NUNES: "You Got to DEFEND the Belt" — No Retirement After HARRISON
“You've got to defend the belt. You've got to defend the belt for sure. And then we're going to see.”
The GOAT's comeback is no farewell tour: beat Kayla Harrison at MSG on Nov. 14, and Amanda Nunes plans to defend the title.
"You've got to defend the belt. You've got to defend the belt for sure. And then we're going to see."
That was Amanda Nunes on the UFC's "Deep Waters" podcast, asked the question everybody assumed had an obvious answer: beat Kayla Harrison at UFC 334, take the belt home, ride off into the sunset again. Wrong. The Lioness is not coming back for one night.
Nunes challenges Harrison for the bantamweight title in the UFC 334 co-main event on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden. It is her first fight in more than three years — and if she wins, she says the story does not end there.
A comeback with a second act
The widespread belief was that this return was a one-and-done: the GOAT comes back for the biggest fight in women's MMA history, then goes home either way. Nunes just killed that theory herself.
"You've got to defend the belt. You've got to defend the belt for sure. And then we're going to see."
— Amanda Nunes, on "Deep Waters"
Win the belt, defend the belt. That is a reign, not a guest appearance — and it changes what Nov. 14 means for the whole division. A Nunes win no longer opens the door to a vacant title. It slams it shut.
She would have come back anyway
Nunes also pushed back on the idea that Harrison alone dragged her out of retirement. The two are former American Top Team stablemates, and the matchup has been brewing for years, but the itch was already there.
"I don't think so," Nunes said. "I would have come back anyways. I had a hard time being away. I think I did the break at the right time. I was like so burned out and I kinda needed the break."
Her last fight was a unanimous decision win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289 on June 10, 2023. She vacated the 135-pound title and retired right after — as clean a goodbye as this sport gets. Three years later, the fire is back.
The long road to Nov. 14
This fight was supposed to happen in January at UFC 324. Harrison's neck surgery delayed it, and both women have been waiting ever since. Harrison, who submitted Julianna Peña at UFC 316 to become champion, gets the defense she asked for. Nunes, 23-5 and now 38 years old, gets the belt she never lost in the cage.
One of them walks out of Madison Square Garden as champion. And if it is Nunes, per the Lioness herself, she is not going anywhere. You love to see it — but does Harrison let the comeback even reach its second act?
