Will Kayla Harrison Become the Women's MMA GOAT if She Beats Amanda Nunes at UFC 334?
With UFC 334 on the horizon, however, the debate has once again been reignited. Will Kayla Harrison, the reigning women's bantamweight champion, take over the women's MMA GOAT mantle if she triumphs over Amanda Nunes at Madison Square Garden?
Women's MMA has had several fighters worthy of the GOAT tag. First, there's the trailblazer 'Rowdy' Ronda Rousey, who took the sport to new heights. Then there's Cris Cyborg, the only woman to have won world championships in Strikeforce, Invicta FC, the UFC, Bellator, and PFL, achieving the proverbial MMA Grand Slam. Then there's Valentina Shevchenko, the dominant, long-reigning women's flyweight champion.
Given all that, however, when the topic of the greatest of all time in women’s MMA comes up, one name is spoken more often than not: Amanda Nunes. The Brazilian is the only woman to have held both the UFC bantamweight and featherweight championships simultaneously, cementing her place among the most dominant champions the sport has ever seen.
With UFC 334 on the horizon, however, the debate has once again been reignited. Will Kayla Harrison, the reigning women's bantamweight champion, take over the mantle if she triumphs over the ‘Lioness’ at Madison Square Garden? Harrison certainly seems to think so, as she confidently voiced during her interview with Brian Campbell on UFC on Paramount. Let's take a look at each fighter's legacy and come to a conclusion.
The Baseline
Joe Rogan, veteran UFC commentator, once argued on his podcast that fighters should be judged by their championship peaks rather than when they're still coming up or in the twilight of their careers. When evaluating their place on the GOAT ladder, Rogan says:
"You have to judge them at their very peak."
Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (1:54:55):
Amanda Nunes’ MMA Legacy
One thing is certain: few in MMA, much less women's MMA, can match Amanda Nunes' peak. Nunes' peak arguably began at UFC Fight Night 62 in 2015, when she earned a first-round TKO victory over Shayna Baszler. The hard-hitting Brazilian would then go on to register a remarkable 12-fight winning streak between 2015 and 2021, leaving a string of knockouts and submission victories in her wake.
During that stretch, she took out some of the sport's elite and bona fide legends, including former champions Valentina Shevchenko, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Raquel Pennington, and Holly Holm, while also claiming the 145-pound title against Cris Cyborg. That's six years of what could be considered cross-era dominance against the veritable who's who of mixed martial arts.
It wasn't just the victories, but the dominant manner in which she claimed them: a first-round TKO against Rousey, a first-round knockout of Cyborg, another first-round TKO against Holm, a first-round submission of Tate, and yet another first-round submission against Megan Anderson.
Even after suffering a shock submission upset to Julianna Pena in 2021, Nunes made a triumphant comeback. Not only did she reclaim her title from 'The Venezuelan Vixen' in their rematch the following year, but she also defended it once more against Irene Aldana before finally hanging up her gloves in 2023, still reigning as the women's bantamweight champion of the world.
Check out Amanda Nunes' knockout wins below:
Kayla Harrison’s MMA Legacy
Let's straighten out one thing first. We're discussing Kayla Harrison's MMA legacy, not her combat sports legacy. The latter would have us considering her two Olympic judo gold medals in addition to her PFL and UFC championship wins, and that is a legacy hard to match for any female combat sports athlete.
Coming to MMA, Harrison is a former PFL women's lightweight champion as well as the reigning UFC bantamweight champion. And since the general consensus is that the UFC is the big leagues, one could argue that her actual journey towards MMA GOAT status began the moment she secured her first UFC title against Julianna Pena at UFC 316.
Now, would a win over Nunes elevate that legacy? It certainly would, but with caveats. Many questions would remain. Did Harrison beat prime Nunes? At 38 years of age, it wouldn't be unreasonable to argue that this won't be the best version of the Lioness we've ever seen. Let's say we give that aspect of the comparison a pass. Is Harrison's championship peak as impressive as Nunes'? With just one title defence under her belt, hardly so.
Check out Kayla Harrison's highlights below:
Will Kayla Harrison Become The Women’s MMA GOAT With a Win at UFC 334?
From our established baseline, the answer is a clear no. Does Kayla Harrison have the potential to become one of the greatest women's MMA fighters of all time? Absolutely. But would a win over Amanda Nunes at UFC 334 elevate her to GOAT status? No. What it would do, however, is set her on the right path towards that mountain.
Even with a win, Nunes would arguably be only the second Hall of Fame-calibre name on Harrison's win column, alongside Holly Holm. In comparison, Nunes has a wealth of such names on her resume, enough to fill a trophy cabinet and then some. That's not even hyperbole.
