It’s not often that a bout in the female part of the UFC outshines the main event, and one that is held in heavyweight, but here we are. Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes fight is scheduled for November 14th, as part of the much-anticipated UFC 334, which will take place at the famous Madison Square Garden. After previously being rescheduled, the bout between the champion in Harrison, will finally take place, as the former two-division champion, Nunes, is basically coming back from retirement at the UFC 334 co-main event.
First time around, the bout was scheduled for January of this year, but due to neck surgery, Kyla Harrison had to postpone it until she recovered and got back into fighting shape. The bantamweight belt was always on Harrison’s card, as the former Olympic judo gold medallist is used to winning. Since her debut, she recorded a swift rise to fame, glory, and power at the world’s biggest MMA promotion. At the same time, Nunes is seen as one of the greatest female fighters in the history of the UFC, and her return to the promotion is only happening because she wants to take Harrison all the way and reclaim her belt. She hasn’t fought since 2023.
A year ago, Harrison was seen as a clear-cut favorite to take this one home. In the meantime, the odds have shifted. Let’s see what the sports betting community has to say about the chances of both fighters at the upcoming title match.
Lead-up to UFC 334
Date and location are set. The unfortunate delay that started in January of 2026 is finally over. Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes is now the co-main event at UFC 334. Nunes, the former two-division UFC champion, is back in the octagon after nearly a four-year absence, and she is prepared to take on the reigning bantamweight champ, Harrison, at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 14th. Their bout is the co-main event, with Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit being the main event in a UFC heavyweight title bout. As far as the odds go, Harrison opened as a big favorite back in January and in the months leading up to that fight. In the past ten months, the line has tightened.
How The Odds Moved?
As we said, the odds have changed since the first fight was announced. A year ago, Harrison was a big favorite, and the odds on her win were set at -300, while Nunes was paid with +247 odds. Since the bout was announced for the first time, the odds have moved quite a lot. Today, the UFC 334 title fight odds set Harrison as -180 favorite, while Nunes is up to +153. Over the last few months, the odds have shifted quite a lot. Right before UFC 324, Harrison was a -170 favorite, while Nunes was at +145. The current champ became a bigger favorite as the news of her recovery became familiar to the general public and, at one point, went up to -190 while Nunes was at +165. With the fight being only a week away, it is hard to think that the odds will move all that much in the coming days, but everything is possible with the excitement surrounding the bout growing.
A Co-main Event as Big as the Main: Harrison vs. Nunes at UFC 334
There’s a reason why this bout has the potential to be a bigger fight than the main event. The defending champion is a homegrown fighter, Kayla Harrison, who is well known in the borders of the USA as a two-time Olympic medallist with gold from the Olympics in 2012 and 2016. Her MMA record stands at 19- 1, and since her debut in PFL back in 2018 at 155-pound division, she never looked back. Her first six bouts were all wins, with three of them coming via submission. Only one was a decision, while she also added two knockouts, adding to her already well-established fighting prowess. All these wins led to her first title bout, which was also a success after she defeated Larissa Pacheco with another decision.
At one point, she even moved to a division below and recorded a win vs. Courtney King at 145-pound weight, before re-establishing herself at 155 with a win against Taylor Guardado. By 2022, she was on a 15-0 run, and it was the right moment to move to the UFC. Yet, before moving, she recorded her first career loss at the hands of Pacheco. She didn’t want to leave the said promotion on a losing note, so she fought once more against Aspen Ladd and won via decision in November of 2023. Only a few months later, in January of 2024, she signed her deal with UFC. She joined the 135-pound class and immediately went against the champ Holly Holm and won by submitting her at UFC 300. You could say that was a start to be expected from a continuous champ regardless of where she’s fighting.
After taking down Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision, Julianna Pena fell next at UFC 316 for Harrison’s first-ever UFC bantamweight title. With the way Kayla started to dominate the bantamweight division, it appears that Amanda Nunes felt that her legacy was in jeopardy. Once Harrison was the bantamweight champion, she announced that she’s coming out of retirement and wants to face Harrison. After a few unfortunate delays, the title bout is finally becoming a reality at UFC 334.
For Amanda Nunes, this fight is to be or not to be. Coming out of retirement to fight Kayla Harrison is a sound decision on her part. Many people see her as the best bantamweight fighter of all time, but that’s not a unanimous decision. With a win here, it might as well become a reality. Unlike Harrison, who kicked off her career with a couple of submissions, Nunes went on to knock out people. Despite a dominant start to her career, she fell to Cat Zingano in no time. Yet, she didn’t allow that a single TKO defeat would mark her UFC career.
What happened is that she went on a 12-win undefeated streak in what’s still seen as one of the most impressive runs in the history of the UFC’s female division. From 2014 until 2021, she went undefeated until Julianna Pena ended her run. During that streak, she won the bantamweight title and defended it for 5 bouts. What makes her run so impressive is the list of names that she took out, which includes the likes of Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, and Holly Holm. In the midst of dominating the bantamweight division, Nunes also moved to featherweight, won the title there, and defended it twice. The featherweight title is even more impressive, as she took out Cris Cyborg at that point and wasn’t defeated for 13 years.
Many fans also argue that she was unfortunate to lose her bantamweight title to a second-round submission to Julianna Pena. It was not a loss that disheartened Nunes, as she came back only a couple of months later and got her title back from Pena. After that, she defended it once more vs. Aldana, and decided to call it a day. She entered her pension as both the featherweight and bantamweight UFC champion. While back then she promised that it was the end and that retiring as a double champion is the way to go, the rise of Kayla Harrison changed her mind.
Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes Picks and Predictions
As MMA fans, we are blessed to have two such ladies, and decorated champions fighting for the belt at UFC 334. Their records speak volumes for themselves as Harrison stands at 19-1 while Nunes is 23-5 in their respective MMA careers. On one side we have a former Olympic medallist, while on the other we have a KO expert who knows how to end fights early on. It is a clash of styles, and a fight for the legacy of the UFC bantamweight division. As we said, the betting favorite for this one is Kayla Harrison, but not everything is in her hands.
Once the bout kicks off, we are sure that Kayla will try to lead with her grappling. She is a profound wrestler, loves to control the bouts from the top, and will hunt for dominant positions from the first bell. She’s 36 years of age, strong, and still able to impose herself on her opponents and to fight with relentless pace. Nunes, on the other hand, is known for her striking ability. Her secret lies in her ability to strike powerfully with both hands, keeping her opponents at a distance, and dominating with classic ground and pound when the fight goes to the floor. While Harrison is a powerful grappler, Nunes is also famous for her world-class takedown defense. As we said, it will be a clash of styles when the two fighters meet.
Back in the day, Nunes would be a favorite to win this one, but times have changed. It is no secret that she might be a tad bit rusty from her retirement. Four years in the UFC is a long time, and she’s facing a title defender. Harrison, on the other hand, was dominant till now, but it remains to be seen whether her neck injury left any consequences on her style of fighting. If everything is the way it was pre-January 2026, we can expect that she will be durable and that grappling will be her main weapon. Harrison is expected to set the pace of the bout and to dictate Nunes’ movement. If the fight goes the length, we think that Harrison would be the eventual winner. At least some of her submission attempts will find a way to land Amanda down, and on the ground it is expected that she will have the upper hand.
Nunes will rely on the stand-up game, where she will probably aim to take Harrison out in the early rounds, or at least to force her to change her approach with her takedown defense and some strikes and kicks that could land. She is a massive champion, and her finishing ability should not be underestimated. One clean strike could end it all. Despite what we said, and the tactical battle expected, this is seen as a bout where the younger, fresher, and current champion should be able to defend its title. Yet, we must mention that this bout has all the makings of the bout between the male bantamweight champions Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, where all the attempts to take Yan down were fruitless for Merab. If Amanda Nunes is able to pull out Petr Yan here, she might actually be back on top straight from retirement.
What Else to Expect at UFC 334?
Expect a lot of great fighting. Ciryl Gane will face Josh Hokit in what could be the biggest one-sided main event in the history of UFC or the biggest surprise that the promotion has ever seen. There’s also an interesting bout between Uros Medic and Kevin Holland after the Serbian fighter set the world on fire in his homeland, Serbia, at UFC Belgrade. Bilal Hasan vs. Luis Gurule, Stephen Thompson vs. Charles Radtke, and Drew Dober vs. Chris Duncan also should be mentioned. Special shutout goes to Stake ambassador Caio Borralho, who fights Yousri Belgaroui on the main card. With Stake being behind the Brazilian fighter, they are boosting Borralho to win in Round 2 in their one-of-a-kind Round 2 price boost, where the odds skyrocket for The Natural to win this bout, but in the second round only.
UFC 334 is only a few days away, and it is the biggest UFC event before the year ends. We don’t say this lightly, and it is not because the fights are taking place inside the legendary Madison Square Garden, but because of the strength of the card and the titles being defended on the holy ground in New York City on November 14th.