NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) – American Kayla Harrison leveraged her tremendous grappling skills to snatch a fourth-round submission win over Amanda Nunes on Saturday night as she retained her UFC bantamweight title, thwarting her opponent’s attempt to take the belt back after more than three years out of the cage.
In the main event at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden, Ciryl Gane of France defeated American Josh Hokit by unanimous decision to retain the heavyweight title after a bruising five-round battle fought at a frenetic pace.
A two-time Olympic judo champion, the 36-year-old Harrison was facing arguably the greatest female fighter of all time in Nunes, a dominant two-weight champion at bantamweight and featherweight before she stepped away from the sport in June 2023. But the Brazilian could not shake off the rust of her long absence as she let the fight slip away from her.
Nunes did well initially, looking crisp in her striking and avoiding some early takedown attempts, but she eventually succumbed to Harrison’s grappling attack, spending much of the latter part of the opening two rounds on the bottom in a scarf-hold position from which she struggled to escape.
Emboldened by her success, Harrison displayed the full range of her judo skills with perfectly timed trips and tosses and vice-like ground control. In the fourth round, she chased Nunes down to the mat, jumping on her back and quickly sinking in a rear-naked choke that forced the 38-year-old to submit.
“I think I’m still in shock,” said Harrison, who had surgery on herniated disks in her neck in January.
“It feels surreal. Sometimes I can’t believe my life. I’m just really grateful, I’m humble, it’s an honour and a privilege to stand before you.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Jamie Freed)
