Kayla Harrison is officially back, but it was a battle just to get her to this point. The reigning women’s bantamweight champ was set to throw down with former teammate Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 back on January 24, a huge launch event for UFC on Paramount. Instead, a brutal neck injury forced her out, required surgery, and put her on the shelf for nearly a full year. Now, after all that, the fight is rebooked for November 14 at UFC 334 in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The Unseen Fight: A Lifetime of Damage
This wasn’t some freak accident. Harrison, at 36 years old, revealed on “The Ariel Helwani Show” that her injuries were the accumulation of a lifetime in combat sports. We’re talking five herniated discs in her neck, a problem she’d been fighting for ages. Two of those discs? Completely blocking nerves. Can you even imagine that pain?
She tried everything to avoid surgery: regular stem cell treatments, anti-inflammatories, arthritis meds, pain pills, nerve pain pills, muscle relaxers, rigorous physical therapy. But nothing worked. By December, she had numbness down her arm, couldn’t feel three of her fingers, and then came the “lightning bolts” of pain. She lost strength in her right arm. Seriously, the champ was in a bad spot. She even got an epidural shot trying to numb the pain, but it was just too much. That’s when one of the UFC’s specialists in New York dropped the hammer, telling her she was in danger of permanent damage.
Questioning Everything: “I Wasn’t Even Crawling”
It’s one thing to be injured, it’s another to be pushed to the brink of walking away from your entire career. Harrison was candid about it, admitting she wasn’t sure if she’d ever fight again. “I wasn’t very good for a very long time, and it was a struggle,” she told Uncrowned. “There were a lot of moments where I kind of questioned if this was going to be possible, and if I needed to come to terms with the fact that I might be all done. But I’m back.”
She was on heavy doses of intense pain medication, barely sleeping for five days because the lightning-bolt pains kept waking her up. After the surgery, the doubt only got worse. Think about being that close to a superfight, “on the one-yard line and fumbling” as she put it. “I was right there. So close, and I didn’t get it done.” It had to be devastating. But huge credit to her team for stepping up. They were the ones telling her, “Listen, of course, we want you to fight, but your health is first. Do you want to have permanent nerve damage? You want to be paralyzed? What are you talking about? This isn’t even a question. Take care of yourself.” That’s real talk, and it shows you the kind of people she has in her corner.
So, after what sounds like a truly brutal year, Harrison is healthy and ready to roll. She steps back into the Octagon on November 14 against Amanda Nunes at UFC 334 in Madison Square Garden. What a comeback story this could be.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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