UFC 324 on January 24, 2025, begins the new broadcast partnership with Paramount and CBS. The lineup is stacked with major names, and the depth of the show has sparked debate over which contest should close the event.
Kayla Harrison will defend her bantamweight championship when she meets Amanda Nunes, who returns after previously holding titles at 135 and 145. Their meeting is widely viewed as a defining moment for women’s combat sports, yet it will appear before the interim lightweight fight between Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje, which many fans consider undeserving of the final slot.
Harrison has no interest in the online discussion and only cares about the fight finally being scheduled.
She told Ariel Helwani, “I have been patiently waiting for a date and to confirm that this fight is gonna happen. So the bout order is irrelevant to me. I make jokes all the time, I would fight on the prelims just because it’s more conducive to the time I go to bed. Like, I’m a mom. I’m in bed at 9PM. So fighting — it’s gonna be in Vegas, so it won’t be that late, which is good.”
Harrison’s Focus on the Nunes Clash and Future Possibilities
Concerns about her cut to 135 persist, along with speculation about whether she might step away from competition soon. Harrison, however, has multiple high profile moments ahead, including the showdown with Nunes and the potential opportunity to compete as the only American born champion on the June White House card.
Speaking about her readiness, she said:
“I feel good and feel locked in. I mean, this is my job, you know? So I’m about a hundred and fifty nine pounds. I’ll know when it’s time. But right now, the focus is Amanda. January 24, the GOAT gets dethroned. Yeah.”
Harrison has also acknowledged that a meeting with Ronda Rousey would carry enormous interest, especially now that Rousey is preparing for a return to active competition. Both are Olympic level judokas with a shared history in the sport.
Harrison said, “It’s too poetic.”
She added more context about their early competitive matchups, stating:
“When people talk about us fighting, all the Ronda simps are like, ‘She already beat her twice in judo,’ and I just wanna be like, ‘Yeah, well, I was 13 and I was being molested.’ I’m probably 14 or 15 and she’s 18 or 19. It’s fair. I mean, we were in the same weight class. She beat me. I’m woman enough to admit when I get beat, and she beat me.”
Harrison has openly spoken about the abuse she suffered from a coach between ages 12 and 16. When she shared her story publicly years ago, she received a rare show of support from Rousey.
She recalled on the Overdogs podcast:
“There was an online forum back in the day when I finally came out about my judo coach molesting me. People were arguing over whether 13 was the legal age, or when it really started. And Ronda went on the forum and basically told everybody to shut the f–k up.”
With Rousey training again and preparing for a comeback fight, the possibility of these two Olympic medalists meeting inside the cage in 2025 or 2026 has become a genuine talking point. If finalized, it would be one of the most financially significant matchups in women’s MMA history.
