UFC

Kayla Harrison has been ruled out of her bantamweight title defence against Amanda Nunes at UFC 324 in Las Vegas next week after suffering an injury.

The UFC has not yet revealed the extent of the injury, but American media are reporting Harrison requires surgery on herniated discs in her neck.

The bout, which was set to be the co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena on 24 January, has been “postponed to a later date”, the UFC says.

The promotion has not announced a replacement bout and has instead promoted former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley’s contest with Song Yadong to the co-main event.

Harrison, 35, was set to make the first defence of her title against returning former double champion Nunes in a bout UFC president Dana White had described as “the biggest women’s fight of all time”.

Former two-time PFL lightweight champion Harrison beat Julianna Pena in June to win the belt in only her third UFC fight.

Brazil’s Nunes, who many regard as the greatest women’s mixed martial artist of all time, was set to compete in her first bout since retiring from the sport in 2023.

The 37-year-old former bantamweight and featherweight champion is the only woman in history to hold UFC titles in two separate divisions.

The card on 24 January will be headlined by Britain’s Paddy Pimblett, who is set to face American Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title.

Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will return to action for the first time in over a year when he faces Joe Pyfer in Seattle, Washington on 28 March.

Nigerian-born New Zealander Adesayna hasn’t fought since he was knocked out by Frenchman Nassourdine Imavov last February in a third straight defeat.

The 36-year-old, who has eight wins in UFC middleweight title fights – second only to Anderson Silva’s record of 11 – has not won since beating Alex Pereira in 2023.

Adesanya dominated the middleweight division between 2020 and 2022 where he defended his title five times, but defeat against American Pyfer will raise questions about his UFC future.

Pyfer, 29, is ranked 15th in the UFC’s middleweight rankings and has won six of his seven fights in the organisation.

Adesayna, who is ranked sixth, has won just one of five fights in nearly four years.

After defeat by Imavov, Adesanya said he wanted to take some time out before focusing on “helping his team-mates” prepare for upcoming bouts.

He has also said chasing titles is no longer his aim, with his priority shifting to wanting to fight more freely and take more risks inside the octagon.

The bout with Pyfer takes place at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on a card which also sees Mexican former flyweight champion Alexa Grasso take on American Maycee Barber.