Kayla Harrison still has Amanda Nunes in her sights, and she pushed back on Ronda Rousey’s claim that her May 16 fight with Gina Carano belongs near the top of women’s MMA history. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion responded during the UFC Vegas 116 pre-fight show and framed the issue as competition versus spectacle.
Harrison and Rousey share a judo background, but their MMA paths now sit in very different places. Rousey won Olympic bronze in judo, became the first female fighter signed by the UFC, and later became the promotion’s inaugural women’s bantamweight champion. Harrison won Olympic judo gold in 2012 and 2016, became a two-time PFL lightweight champion, and is listed as the first female fighter to win both an Olympic gold medal and a UFC championship.
Rousey is scheduled to face Carano on May 16. Carano went 7-1 in MMA, has not fought since her 2009 loss to Cris Cyborg, and was part of the first women’s fight to headline a major MMA event. Harrison’s delayed fight with Nunes carries a different competitive case, since Nunes is a former two-division UFC champion and the only woman in UFC history to hold and defend titles in two weight classes.
“I’m just going to go ahead and say I could be meaner,” Harrison said. “I think that it would be really hard, I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone to come in and beat everything I’ve ever done. That would be hard. I get it.
“Imagine hating me and I’m just over here in my backyard feeding chickens. It’s got to be rough.”
Watch Harrison’s comments below:
Kayla Harrison responds to Ronda Rousey's comments:
"I can't imagine what it would be like for someone to come in and beat everything I've ever done. That would be hard. I get it."
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— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) April 25, 2026
Harrison credits Rousey’s impact but rejects the Carano fight claim
Harrison acknowledged Rousey’s place in the sport before explaining why she does not view the Carano matchup as the greatest women’s MMA fight of all time.
“I think that the part that bothers me most about Ronda is at one point she was a real athlete,” Harrison said about Rousey. “She was training for the Olympics. She’s an Olympic bronze medalist. She became a UFC champion. She was really trying to chase greatness. I will never take away the fact that Ronda is probably the most important female fighter. If it weren’t for her, for sure I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I wouldn’t have a job. But this fight is not the greatest fight of all time.
“It’s between someone who hasn’t fought in 10 years and is coming off two knockout losses and another woman, again another legend, another pioneer, but hasn’t fought in 17 years and is in her 40s. Don’t call it the greatest fight of all time. I’m chasing greatness. You’re chasing money. We’re different.”
Rousey and Harrison’s public dispute has already covered old judo-room tension, pay, legacy, and promotional value. Harrison’s latest point is more direct. Rousey has not fought in MMA since knockout losses to Holly Holm and Nunes, while Carano has been inactive since 2009.
Harrison’s own return is tied to health after neck surgery delayed her planned UFC 324 fight with Nunes. She is expected to compete again before the end of 2026. If that matchup stays on track, it would pair the current UFC bantamweight champion with a former two-division UFC champion whose résumé includes wins over Rousey, Cyborg, Miesha Tate, and Valentina Shevchenko.
Rousey vs. Carano has major name value and Netflix distribution behind it. Harrison’s argument is that her path toward Nunes carries active championship stakes and a stronger claim to the women’s MMA GOAT debate.
