UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison has admitted that she questioned her fighting future after undergoing major neck surgery that threatened to derail her career.
Harrison was forced to withdraw from her scheduled showdown with Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 earlier this year after suffering a serious neck injury. The Olympic gold medalist underwent surgery and began a difficult recovery process, leaving her uncertain about whether she would ever feel like herself again.
The setback came after years of hard work to reach the UFC and win the women’s bantamweight title. Harrison defeated Julianna Peña at UFC 316 in June 2025 to capture the championship, but her title reign came to an unexpected halt because of the injury.
With Harrison sidelined, the UFC opted not to introduce an interim bantamweight title fight. She is now scheduled to defend her belt against former two-division champion Nunes at UFC 334 on November 14 in New York.
However, Harrison’s road back to the Octagon was not easy. During a recent appearance on the Deep Waters podcast, she revealed how the severity of her injury affected her both physically and mentally.
“I feel awesome. To be honest, it was rough at the beginning. I think more just obviously physically, but mentally, it was such a big surgery, and I went 10 years without having surgery,” Harrison said. “I had reconstructive knee surgery in between my two Olympics, and then I went 10 years with no surgery, but in the last four years I’ve had four surgeries back to back to back to back, and this one was the most serious. I kind of was just like, ‘Dude, am I ever going to be OK again?’ It got to the point where I was questioning if I was ever going to feel like myself again. But I’m back.”
Harrison also explained that she initially hoped to undergo disc replacement surgery rather than a spinal fusion. However, doctors determined that a more extensive procedure was necessary after examining her condition.
The champion revealed that she had five herniated discs and underwent a two-level spinal fusion. The situation became so serious that she struggled to sleep and experienced intense nerve pain in the days leading up to her scheduled fight with Nunes.
“I had a two-level fusion,” Harrison said. “So I have five herniated discs. I wanted to do the disc replacement because I hear that’s much better, and then when the doc went in, he was like, ‘No, you can’t.’”
“You have to remember, I was trying to make it to my fight. So this was two weeks before I’m supposed to fight Amanda. I can’t lift my arm, I’m getting lightning bolts. The last five days I think I slept maybe three hours because I would fall asleep and then the lightning bolts. It’s the worst pain ever. So finally, the UFC is like, ‘Go to New York.’ I flew to New York, the doctor looked at all the stuff, he was like, ‘Yeah, you need surgery now. When do you want to have it?’”
Harrison underwent surgery the following morning, but she had already tried several treatments in an attempt to save her fight with Nunes. Unfortunately, none of them provided the relief she needed.
“I did everything to try to get to the fight,” Harrison said. “I was doing monthly stem cell injections, I was doing PT rigorously, then I started doing muscle relaxers, didn’t touch it. Then I was doing nerve pain pills, then they gave me heavy-duty pain pills, but nothing touched it.”
Despite the difficult recovery, Harrison has regained her confidence and is eager to return to competition. Her upcoming clash with Nunes will bring together two of the most accomplished women in MMA, with Harrison looking to prove herself against the former champion.
However, the possibility that Kayla Harrison might retire became a real consideration during her recovery. The 36-year-old admitted that the injury forced her to reconsider her identity beyond fighting and question whether she could accept her career if she never returned to the cage.
Harrison explained that she has come to terms with the possibility that her fighting career could end, even though she still loves competing.
“I’m already satisfied,” Harrison said. “It’s not about getting the fight. Of course, I want this fight, but I’m satisfied with my career. I had to come to terms with that when I had neck surgery, it sort of went back to pre-kids where it’s like, are you able to love yourself if you don’t reach all of your goals? Are you still worthy of your own love, Kayla? And I am.
“I’m good with everything I’ve done. If I never fight again, I’m still a child of God with inherent worth and value, and I’m a mom and I’m a daughter and I’m a friend. I’m good, but this is for me. This is about me.”
Harrison also spoke about her passion for MMA and her determination to make the most of the time she has left in the sport.
“I love fighting. I thought I loved judo and then I met MMA and I love it so much, and I know our time is very short. You don’t get to do this forever, and so I want to make the most of it, and I had to fight like hell to get through this neck surgery and just mentally to get back to a place of, ‘Oh yeah, I am that b*tch.’
“This is for me. I don’t need money. We could do it at ATT, this is just for me. I want to go out there and see what I’m made of. Am I who I say I am?”
Harrison has not announced her retirement, and her upcoming fight with Nunes offers her an opportunity to resume the career she worked so hard to build.
