UFC 324 title super-fight derailed by injury with replacement bout confirmed

Kayla Harrison is out of her mammoth women’s bantamweight title defence against the returning Amanda Nunes in a huge blow to UFC 324, just nine days out from the event.

Harrison, 35, was due to put her title on the line for the first time since dethroning Julianna Pena, welcoming former two-division champion Nunes back from retirement in one of the biggest matchups in women’s mixed martial arts history.

However, the Olympic gold medallist reportedly required surgery this week to repair herniated discs in her neck, ruling her out of the bout as she begins her recovery.

The match has been “postponed to a later date” by the UFC rather than rebooked with another opponent for Nunes, who will now have to wait to for her first fight since 2023.

"This is a tough one,” Harrison said in a tearful update on Instagram. “I had to have surgery on my neck yesterday here in New York City with a specialist. After that, obviously we're going to have to reschedule the fight.

“I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry to Amanda. I was really looking forward to it and I just want to thank everyone. I want to thank the UFC for taking such good care of me. Dr. D and Jen and the whole team over there. I want to thank Dr. Tammy here in New York for seeing me and taking such good care of me.

"I want to thank my mom for taking care of my kids at home. I want to thank all my coaches at American Top Team and all my teammates. This is day one of recovery and the road back starts now.

“I don't know God's plans. I know he knows this is my dream, so I've got praise him in the mountains and I've got praise him in the valleys. I'm grateful for this. I hope that it brings me closer to him and his story in a mighty way. That's it. I'm sorry, guys. I'll be back soon."

The UFC confirmed that former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley’s bout will move into the co-main event slot, with “Suga” squaring off against top contender Song Yadong.

The timescale of Harrison’s injury or projected return has not been confirmed, with UFC legend and commentator Daniel Cormier left to ponder over the future of the women’s bantamweight division.

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Cormier told The Ariel Helwani Show: “Is Kayla gone for six months? Because if she’s only out for six months, you can’t say this an interim title fight because hey, Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison is a massive fight. Kayla is vocal too, how would she feel about an interim title fight?

“The one thing you don’t necessarily need with Amanda Nunes is her holding a belt. You can just put one on her and then the visual is two champions fighting. But Kayla just fought recently — does an interim title even make sense?

“The problem is, you don’t get better by not doing something. We don’t know if Amanda Nunes is as good as when she left. You don’t want to risk her losing and then losing that Kayla Harrison fight. If Kayla’s only gone for six months, you don’t give Amanda the fight.

“If it’s going to be longer than six months, then you give Amanda Nunes the fight with the hope that she still wins — and now you’ve got two champions, both holding belts.”

Elsewhere on the card, Alexa Grasso was removed from her flyweight bout with Rose Namajunas, replaced by number two ranked contender Natalia Silva.

UFC 324 will be headlined by the interim lightweight title fight, which pits Justin Gaethje against Liverpudlian Paddy Pimblett.